Report: Vikings Worked out 41-Year-Old CB Coach Terence Newman Amid Injuries

The Minnesota Vikings reportedly worked out 41-year-old defensive backs coach Terence Newman this week and nearly signed him after cornerbacks Mackensie Alexander and Mike Hughes were placed on injured reserve.

According to ESPN's Adam Schefter and Field Yates, the Vikes instead settled on promoting Nate Meadors from the practice squad.

With Minnesota's defensive backs corps ailing, safety Andrew Sendejo spent much of the Vikings' NFC Wild Card Round playoff win against the New Orleans Saints at cornerback.

Newman played for the Vikings from 2015-17 before retiring and was then hired as their nickel/defensive backs coach in 2018.

Prior to his time with the Vikings, Newman played for the Dallas Cowboys and Cincinnati Bengals. Overall, the 2003 No. 5 overall pick out of Kansas State played 15 NFL seasons and was named to the Pro Bowl twice.

He finished his career with 879 tackles, 183 passes defended, 42 interceptions, eight forced fumbles, 11 fumble recoveries and four total touchdowns.

Newman's role lessened during his three-year stint in Minnesota, as he went from starting 16 games to 10 to seven, but he was still a useful player, especially in a nickel role since his experience helped him make up for some of what he'd lost athletically.

Newman has long been a favorite of Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer, and he has essentially followed him wherever he has gone during his career.

From 2003-06, Zimmer was Newman's defensive coordinator with the Cowboys. Newman then joined Zimmer when he was the defensive coordinator in Cincinnati in 2012, and after Zimmer took the head coaching job in Minnesota in 2014, Newman came aboard the following year.

Zimmer clearly has a great deal of trust in Newman as a player and a coach, and since he has an obvious understanding of Zimmer's defensive system, bringing Newman out of retirement may not have been the worst decision.

He is two years removed from playing in the NFL, though, and coming back from that type of hiatus to play in an NFC Divisional Round playoff game against the top-seeded San Francisco 49ers would have been a massive challenge.