Jamal Adams arrived at Vikings training camp as a linebacker, wearing No. 54 and learning a new defense from the front seven. Within days, that changed.
Adams appeared in No. 32 on Friday, received snaps at safety and explained Saturday that Kevin O’Connell had quietly delivered the news during Minnesota’s off day.
“I seen KO. He was leaving and he just kind of told me, ‘See you tomorrow, 32,’” Adams said. “I just was like, ‘Oh, okay, cool,’ and I just ran with it.”
The number was a welcome change.
“It was definitely a better feeling than 54,” Adams said.
More importantly, the role is changing with it.
Adams said returning to safety “feels great,” describing it as meaningful to have a team believe he can again play in the back end. He is not abandoning linebacker entirely, however. His expectation is a hybrid job that asks him to move wherever Brian Flores needs him.
“I think it’s going to be a little bit of everything,” Adams said. “Just being versatile in a lot of ways to help this defense out. The key is winning, so whatever they need me to do, I’m going to do.”
Joshua Metellus confirmed that the change is more than a one-day experiment or a response to a few absent safeties.
“The past couple days, we moved him into the DB room,” Metellus said. “Started off in the linebacker room, started him off small, but now we’re getting that versatility out of him.”
That is an important development for a defense that has long treated versatility as a requirement rather than a luxury.
No player embodies that philosophy more clearly than Metellus. Since Flores arrived in Minnesota, the veteran has become the coordinator’s Swiss Army knife, playing deep safety, slot defender, box safety and linebacker-like roles depending on the call. He can blitz, disguise coverage or shift responsibilities before the snap without leaving the defense exposed.
Metellus explained how much trust and communication that freedom requires.
“I could be blitzing and I’ll get Justin Jefferson to line up right in front of me,” Metellus said. “I’ll look at [Blake Cashman], he’ll know I’m switching my blitz to him and let me play the coverage.”
That sort of adjustment does not happen because a player has a new number or athletic versatility. It comes through repetition, command of the system and familiarity with teammates. Metellus and Cashman have developed that connection over multiple seasons. Adams has only been in Minnesota for a short time.
That is why the Vikings first placed him in the linebacker room and why the move to the defensive backs room should not be viewed as a declaration that he is now a conventional safety. Flores is building out Adams’ role rather than forcing him into one label.
Adams understands the task.
“Obviously you got to be smart,” he said of playing safety in Flores’ defense. “Especially playing in a defense like Flo’s, knowing a lot of checks can occur and different defenses that we run. You got to stay in the playbook. That’s our job.”
For Adams, the move also carries personal weight.
He entered the NFL as a safety and became one of the league’s most dangerous defensive weapons with the Jets, earning first-team All-Pro honors in 2019 after recording 6.5 sacks. Injuries then reshaped his career. He said Saturday that the stretch from 2022 into 2025 made him feel as if he had lost several years of it.
“For me, it’s like a rebirth,” Adams said. “Walking into Year 10, I feel great, and I’m just looking forward to the season.”
The Vikings signed him shortly before camp, with no guarantee of a major role or even a roster spot given his contract structure. He began by playing at linebacker while still learning the terminology, then earned a chance to move deeper into Flores’ defense.
Metellus said that progression has been noticeable.
“To watch a guy who was just on the couch a couple weeks ago and then come in and put on number 54 and just run through people’s face, don’t know where the coverage is, don’t know what gap to play, just play fast and show why he’s been in the league for so long has been amazing,” Metellus said.
Now, Adams is being asked to learn the system’s more demanding back-end responsibilities while retaining the physicality that made him an effective blitzer and box defender.
That combination is what makes him intriguing.
A traditional linebacker can pressure the quarterback but may not have Adams’ experience in coverage. A traditional safety can handle the back end but may not bring his aggression near the line of scrimmage. Flores is betting that Adams can offer parts of both. He certainly is the perfect coach for a player without a clear position label.
The position on the roster still says linebacker. The jersey number now says defensive back.
In Flores’ defense, the final answer may be both.
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