Childress: Abdullah is the starting strong safety

In the post-game press conference, Minnesota Vikings coach Brad Childress was asked whether Husain Abdullah has won the job at safety or if his start was just a matchup thing.

Simple, straight forward answer: “He’s our starting strong safety,” Childress said, according to Tom Pelissero of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities.

The question heading into camp was which of the two, Tyrell Johnson or Jamarca Sanford, would run away with the starting safety position opposite of free safety Madieu Williams. Nobody thought twice about Abdullah, who had played a limited role on the Vikings’ defense last season.

Abdullah, 25, has the body of a free safety rather than a strong safety, at just 6-foot and 204 lbs. But in a cover-2 defensive scheme like the Vikings, the roles of the two safety positions are virtually identical.

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