Veteran defender Jamal Adams was taken to the locker room on a cart Saturday shortly after his preseason debut with the Minnesota Vikings, who signed him to a one-year contract last month on the eve of training camp.
Details of Adams' injury were not immediately clear, but he played 11 defensive snaps before going to the sideline medical tent. His final play was in pass defense on New York Giants quarterback Jaxson Dart's 15-yard touchdown pass to Malachi Fields with 13 minutes, 32 seconds remaining in the second quarter.
"You're just crushed for him," coach Kevin O'Connell said on the television broadcast. "The role that he was kind of paving for himself, and then just having a personality and experienced toughness that he brought in such a short amount of time. We're going to miss him and we're going to need to see some guys here step up. But what I told Jamal is our organization, we've got our arms around him. And he's a part of this thing. But you absolutely hate to see that."
Adams, 30, was the New York Jets' first-round pick as a safety in 2017. He has made three Pro Bowls but has struggled with injuries in the second half of his career. He played nine or fewer games in the 2022, 2023 and 2024 seasons.
Adams moved to linebacker last season with the Las Vegas Raiders, but the Vikings have been using him at both positions during training camp.