Jamal Adams carted off with knee injury in Vikings debut

Jamal Adams' first game in a Vikings uniform ended with him being carted off the field, and the news afterward wasn't much better. Minnesota signed the 3-time Pro Bowler to a one-year deal just weeks before training camp opened, hoping he could bring toughness and leadership to a defense being rebuilt around Brian Flores. Instead, the story turned into every fan's worst preseason nightmare.

Adams was already in the medical tent before the cart came out, a sequence that rarely ends well. It capped a short but promising outing — he'd flashed early with a tackle for loss before the injury occurred, only for it to unravel on a Giants touchdown drive.

What made the moment sting more was how quickly Adams had endeared himself to the locker room. Vikings head coach Kevin O'Connell didn't hold back describing what Adams meant to the team in such a short window.

That's not coach-speak filler — Adams, a former first-round pick of the Jets back in 2017, has spent the last several seasons fighting through injuries that limited him to 9 or fewer games across 2022-2024. He shifted from safety to linebacker last year in Las Vegas and looked like he still had juice, appearing in all 17 games for the Raiders. Minnesota GM Nolan Teasley, who helped orchestrate the blockbuster trade that originally brought Adams to Seattle in 2020, pushed to reunite with him this offseason. The bet was on a healthy, motivated veteran anchoring a young defense. Now that bet looks shaky.

O'Connell was careful not to speculate on severity, but choosing the words "not good" instead of hedging tells you enough. For a guy on a 1-year, prove-it deal worth just over $1.4 million, a serious knee injury could end his season — and possibly cloud what's left of his career — before he ever played a regular-season down in purple.

For now, Minnesota's defense has to move on without knowing exactly what it's working with. Adams was still finding his footing at a new position on a new team, and the Vikings were counting on his experience to stabilize a group with plenty of unproven pieces. Expect more clarity on the injury in the coming days, but the emotional reaction from O'Connell and his teammates on Saturday said plenty about how much this one hurt.