It always felt like a long shot to expect Brian Branch to be ready to go for the Detroit Lions' kickoff to training camp. The safety tore his achilles toward the end of the 2025 season, and those injuries typically require at least a year for recovery and a vamp back up to NFL speed.
As for Kerby Joseph, Branch's running mate in the safety room, his timeline for a return feels a whole lot more unknown.
His lingering knee injury doesn't seem to have a name - Branch's achilles was torn, but we still don't know what exactly happened with Joseph's knee. That leaves a lot of room for speculation, although it would not be right to make any declarative statements on his future health or availability.
As of now, all we can do is hope that the Lions' current safety room is up to snuff for the 2026 season. With its current makeup, it feels fair to say they absolutely are.
Lions safety room is not in limbo despite Joseph, Branch news
Throughout OTAs and minicamp, Chuck Clark and Christian Izien seemed to have been getting the nod at starting safety with Branch and Joseph out for those sessions. There's been no indication that that's going to change headed into training camp, although the Lions also have Thomas Harper and Avonte Maddox as options at safety to begin the year.
Defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard also plans on utilizing the nickel a lot more in 2026, which adds some versatility to the Lions' secondary. That's sorely needed with their safety room such a question mark.
Clark comes over to Detroit with eight seasons under his belt, and with a ton of reliability. The safety has played in almost every single game since his rookie year in 2017 with the Baltimore Ravens, missing time in 2023 with a torn ACL and again in 2024 with a high ankle sprain. At 31 years old, Clark could factor in as a key piece of this Lions defense with Branch and Joseph out.
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As for Izien, he's a bit more of a wild card as a starter. He had a promising start to his career with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, posting three interceptions, five passes defended, two forced fumbles, and 140 total tackles through his first two years with them, but he saw a fall off in production in 2025 which led to the team letting him walk in free agency.
That loss could be Detroit's gain if they can tap back into Izien's former self. He's a strong tackler with great instincts against the run, which can help fill the void left by Branch to start the year.
If he shows out in camp, expect to see Izien and the veteran Clark as the teams' starting safety tandem. It's a downgrade from Branch and Joseph, to be sure - they were just named to the top 10 list of safeties by ESPN despite their injuries - but the Lions aren't fully left in the dust thanks to Clark and Izien.
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