Ahead of their Week 15 matchup last week against the Los Angeles Rams, Detroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell revealed to fans and reporters that standout safety Kerby Joseph suffered a setback concerning his knee injury and said he felt like Joseph could be an injured reserve candidate.
This was the worst-case scenario for Lions fans, who were holding out hope that Joseph would eventually return to the field, as Detroit is in the thick of the playoff hunt. That said, the Lions did not put Joseph on injured reserve.
Instead, they put S Brian Branch on injured reserve last Saturday and brought back tight end Shane Zylstra off injured reserve to fill Branch’s spot on the 53-man roster. It made sense why the Lions reactivated Zylstra, as the TE depth has not looked great since Sam LaPorta's season-ending injury.
However, by not putting Joseph on injured reserve as well, it has cost Detroit one of its backup safeties, who was poached off its practice squad on Tuesday. According to Benjamin Raven of MLive, the Tennessee Titans signed safety Erick Hallett from the Lions’ practice squad.
Hallett started in place of an injured Thomas Harper against the Rams and had 10 tackles in 55 defensive snaps.
Kerby Joseph Saga Costing Lions in New Ways to Start Week 16
While this is great news for Hallett, who will get a chance to start and play a ton of snaps with the Titans over the last few weeks, in hopes of building his stock for the offseason, it sucks to lose a competent and reliable backup this late in the season.
The 25-year-old Hallett has been with the Lions’ organization since August 2024, shuffling back and forth on and off the practice squad. Hallett didn’t play in any games last season, but that quickly changed this season due to Joseph’s injury.
After playing six special teams snaps in Week 6, Hallett made his first career start in Week 7 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He racked up eight combined tackles and left some room for improvement in pass coverage – six completions allowed (nine targets) for 75 yards.
However, for it being his first start, the Lions couldn’t ask for more. Now, fast forward to Week 15 with Harper banged up, Detroit was able to call upon Hallett again. However, the Lions don’t have that safety net option due to their procrastination in deciding to put Joseph on injured reserve.
If the Lions put Joseph on IR last week, then they had a better chance of keeping Hallett, as they could’ve put him on the 53-man roster. Now, it's unlikely that he would’ve started for the rest of the way, as Harper should be on his way back from his concussion.
Having Hallett as a backup to Harper isn’t the worst idea, but that option is off the table. In the meantime, the Lions will have to hope that Jalen Mills or Damontae Kazee, who were both just recently signed, can get up to speed and give them some snaps down the stretch.