The Kerby Joseph Injury Drama Nobody Asked For
The mystery surrounding Kerby Joseph’s injury continues, and honestly, the lack of answers is starting to feel very familiar around here.
A knee injury that sidelined the Detroit Lions safety for the final half of the 2024 season has continued to linger and kept him off the practice field. Throughout the past few months, there has been very little clarity on what appears to be a chronic knee injury. Which is exactly what every Lions fan wants to hear during what should be optimistic offseason months.
Dan Campbell continued to reiterate Thursday that they simply do not know what to expect from Joseph this year. “I don’t know. I honestly do not know,” Campbell said. “I know this: we’ve done everything we can do, and he’s done everything he can do to this point.”
The Waiting Game Nobody Wants to Play
Joseph has posted to social media some of those rehabilitation efforts, including acupuncture. But the Lions are intentionally putting off any sort of on-field work. Campbell says once he finally takes the field, that’s when they’ll have a better idea on how Joseph’s knee will hold up.
“We are trying to be as smart as we can and not push this until we absolutely have to, because once we’ve done that, then we’ll know one way or another,” Campbell said. “And it’s not worth it right now. We’re just slowly building, continuing to strengthen there. He’s getting treatment; he’s done some of these different things in different places to try and help.”
Campbell added they probably won’t know anything concrete until they get into the thick of training camp. So we wait. Again.
At Least Brad Holmes Saw This Coming
It may not be the positive update Lions fans were hoping for, but it at least shows that both the team and Joseph himself are exploring every possible avenue to get him on the field. The smart money says Holmes and company knew this was a possibility all along.
The Lions did the best they could to fortify the safety room this offseason to ensure they’re covered while both Joseph and Brian Branch (torn Achilles) work their way back from injury. They added Christian Izien and Chuck Clark in free agency, and re-signed veteran Avonte Maddox.
“I like Izien a lot. We played against him. He’s a pretty headsy player. He’s pretty violent. See ball, hit ball,” Campbell said. “I really like that group. You talk about going into training camp, Chuck Clark, Maddox, Izzy, there’s a ton of guys back there that’ll be competing.”
Campbell also mentioned Thomas Harper, Dan Jackson coming off injury, and Loren Strickland as part of what he called “a pretty competitive group, with some young players and then with some heady veteran guys.”
Look, nobody wants to hear that a key piece of the secondary is still a question mark heading into what could be a special season. But at least this front office actually planned for contingencies instead of just crossing their fingers and hoping for the best. Remember when that used to be our offseason strategy?
Are we overreacting to an injury that might resolve itself by training camp, or is this the kind of lingering issue that derails seasons? Let me know what you’re thinking in the comments.
