Last season, Detroit Lions safety Kerby Joseph suffered swelling in his knee prior to a practice in last year's training camp. That swelling, accompanied by a lack of speed experienced when trying to run during practice, was the first signal for the talented defender that something was off with his health, and specifically, his knee.
"I got the MRI and got the news, I said, 'Hmm.' I peeped though. They were telling me about the injury and I said, 'Only person that can help me with this is God.' I was gonna do what I could do until God sat me down. God sat me down in the Kansas (City) game. And there you go," said Joseph to reporters ahead of Day 2 of training camp this week.
Since then, Joseph has been working to try and get back on the field consistently for the Lions, who are down two starters in their backfield between him and Brian Branch (achilles). He told reporters that, while he's not fully participating in practice just yet, he is working hard to get back ahead of the Lions' 2026 season.
"I'm super optmistic. I never gave up...I'm going to always work hard, if you see me outside, I'm working."
Joseph clears the air around timeline of lingering knee injury
As Joseph noted, the teams' Kansas City Chiefs contest where the safety last suited up is where his knee finally gave out, although he never got surgery on that knee.
He's been rehabbing in an attempt to return for this season, but head coach Dan Campbell told reporters on Wednesday ahead of training camp kicking off that Joseph is still a few weeks away from being reevaluated and potentially thrown back out into practice for the first time since last year.
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It's nice to hear directly from Joseph, who has taken to social media in recent weeks to air his grievances with his injury and with those doubting his ability to return. But, if you're a Lions fan really clamoring to see him or Branch back out there, there's a world where this sort of self-confidence exhibited by Joseph could be comforting, in a way.
Why shouldn't he be braggadocios about his ability to get 100% healthy? And, it clearly shows his motivation to get back to his hugely impactful contributions in the Lions secondary. The team sorely misses his turnover generating ability, and a return from him this season would do wonders for the Lions' Super Bowl window.
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