Kerby Joseph is on the field again for the Lions, and that alone changes the conversation around Detroit’s defense.
Head coach Dan Campbell said Wednesday, ahead of Week 8, that Joseph will return to practice after months of rehab. The safety has been out since Detroit’s Week 6 game against the Kansas City Chiefs in 2025 while working back from a knee injury that lingered through the offseason.
Campbell said Joseph has “checked all those boxes” for individual work, but the next step is getting him into team drills late next week or early the following week. If that goes well, a return to the active roster could come later in the season, with late November and the Thanksgiving matchup against the Chicago Bears mentioned as possible markers.
For the Lions, simply getting Joseph back into practice is a significant lift, especially with the trade deadline approaching. Detroit has been piecing together the safety spot without him, rotating Chuck Clark and rookie Keith Abney II most recently. That group looked solid in Week 5 against the Arizona Cardinals, but it hasn’t carried the same impact Joseph and Brian Branch can bring together.
Joseph’s absence has left Detroit searching for answers in the secondary, and his return only sharpens the picture of what this defense can become once healthy. The Lions have already seen how much Branch changes things, and adding Joseph back into that mix raises the ceiling again.
There’s also the matter of what Joseph looked like before the injury. In five games in 2025, he posted three interceptions, four pass breakups and 18 total tackles.
If he gets back to that level, Detroit could feel even less pressure to chase help at the deadline. His presence would obviously strengthen the safety room, but it could also ease some of the strain at cornerback.
That cornerback group has at least shown better signs over the last two games. It’s still a small sample, but Detroit has put together back-to-back strong outings there, with Ennis Rakestraw Jr. and D.J.
Reed emerging as the starting duo the team needed at the start of the season. With Khalil Dorsey and Roger McCreary handling the nickel, the unit has settled in and been perfectly average.
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