Coming out of their bye, the Detroit Lions were hoping that standout safety Kerby Joseph would be available to play against the Minnesota Vikings in Week 9. Joseph has been hampered by a knee injury that he initially sustained in Week 4 against the Cleveland Browns, and fans would love nothing more than for him to be healthy down the stretch.
A couple of days before their game against the Vikings, Lions head coach Dan Campbell told reporters that he didn’t envision Joseph playing, but added that his knee injury was “improving.”
Although Lions fans were disappointed to see Joseph sidelined again, they were at least hopeful that things were moving in the right direction. Campbell provided a new update on Joseph on Tuesday (h/t Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press), and let’s just say that this one isn’t promising.
"The irritation is not going away as fast as we had hoped... There is improvement, but it’s just not quite there yet, and we’re not going to force this thing until we get it as calmed down as we possibly can because we don’t want to keep – if we can keep from it, we don’t want to have to revisit this every week once he comes back."Dan Campbell on Kerby Joseph
Lions Taking Cautious Approach with Kerby Joseph’s Knee Injury
While this isn’t the news that Lions fans wanted to hear, you have to respect that Campbell and Co. will not rush Joseph back on the field. You’d rather Joseph be close to 100% for the final stretch, rather than him coming back for a game and then having to miss one or two games after that.
We know that when healthy, the 24-year-old Joseph is one of the best safeties in the league, as he’s a ballhawk and always around the ball. Last season, Joseph was a first-team All-Pro, which included a 90.7 overall defensive grade and 91.5 coverage grade, per Pro Football Focus. However, we’ve seen those numbers take a dip this season, likely due to his knee injury (59.1 overall, 57.4 coverage).
With Joseph possibly out for this week and maybe the following week, Detroit will go back to Thomas Harper, who made his second-straight start in Week 9. The 25-year-old defender had two total tackles but also allowed a touchdown.
That said, the Lions aren’t pressing the panic button yet on Harper, who played an integral part in their fantastic Week 7 win vs. the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, where the secondary was missing a few key starters.
Nonetheless, Harper and the rest of the Lions’ secondary will look to bounce back against the Washington Commanders this weekend, who have been hit hard by injuries on offense.