Jamal Adams is out for the year with a knee injury

As expected, veteran defender Jamal Adams‘s 2026 season is over, after only one preseason game.

Via Ian Rapoport of NFL Network, Adams has been diagnosed with a season-ending knee injury. The specific nature of the injury was not specified.

It’s a brutal blow for Adams, a former All-Pro safety who had moved to linebacker with the Raiders in 2025 and who likely was going to be deployed in multiple positions by the Minnesota defense.

A top-10 pick in 2017 by the Jets, Adams had signed a one-year deal for the veteran minimum of $1.41 million with the Vikings just before training camp started. He had already made a great impression on the coaching staff and his teammates.

Adams was involved in 11 snaps during the first half of Saturday’s preseason opener at the Giants. He had an impressive backfield tackle of a running back.

The injury happened on a non-contact basis on the artificial surface at MetLife Stadium. Which serves only to underscore the widespread preference by players for grass, which absorbs the forces generated by the players. Artificial turf causes the forces to ricochet back into the players’ bodies.