MSU's Blue Adams Gives Encouraging Health Update on Key Safety

Michigan State has been fortunate not to have to deal with any truly long-term injuries so far in this early going of the 2025 season.

For the secondary in particular, that is especially key, as that group suffered multiple injuries coming out of Week 1 last year.

"We're mid-season, or beginning-season healthy," Spartans secondary coach Blue Adams said on Monday. "You're never going to be fresh; there's always bumps and bruises, and so, you learn to live through that. And so, yeah, we're healthy. Gametime, we're going to be as healthy as we need to be in order to be successful."

The one concern in the defensive backfield has been with senior safety Nikai Martinez, who missed Week 1 with an injury. His status for the Spartans' Week 2 matchup against Boston College is still up in the air, as coach Jonathan Smith said on Monday that they will "see what that looks like at the end of the week."

Blue Adams on Nikai Martinez's progress

Adams sounded very optimistic about Martinez's progress.

"He's (Martinez) working now," Adams said. "He's working. Like I say, you've got so much wealth of knowledge on the back end. From Armorion (Smith) to (Malik) Spencer to Nikai (Martinez), you just got a wealth of knowledge back there. So, if you're ever to get out there to practice and just listen, you hear those guys chattering away."

Martinez is in his second season with the program, having transferred over from UCF in the 2024 offseason. He started every game for the Spartans last season, tallying 51 tackles, 2.5 for loss, two pass breakups and two interceptions.

Michigan State could afford not to have Martinez against Western Michigan, but potentially having him back for its next contest -- against a much tougher opponent -- would be huge for the Spartans' defense, which already put together a solid Week 1 performance.

Martinez was a four-star prospect from Apopka, Florida. He spent his first two collegiate seasons with UCF, where he played in all 27 of the Knights' games in that span and started each game his sophomore season.

Michigan State's Nikai Martinez celebrates his interception against Florida Atlantic during the second quarter on Friday, Aug. 30, 2024, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing. | Nick King/Lansing State Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK

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