Down at the NFL Combine, the Detroit Lions offered more updates on the health of safety Kerby Joseph, who battled a knee injury for most of 2025. The news, as it has been since the injury occurred, is mixed. But one thing is pretty clear: the Lions are unwilling to state their level of confidence in Joseph being ready to go in 2026.
“That’s tough to say. We’ve been treating him. He’s done a few things. We’re in—I would say—the position now to where we’re slowly working him back,” Campbell said. “What is this going to look like? How is this going to feel? Call it a month from now. We’ll have a lot better idea. Is this something where he’s going to be able to handle what he’s going to feel like, or can we get it stable enough, or can we get enough strength? It’s all of those things.”
Obviously, that’s not a particularly encouraging update. From the get-go, it seems the Lions’ message has been to manage this injury, not cure it. Back in December, Campbell said this regarding Joseph’s injury:
“I don’t think it’s necessarily going away, but I think you do the best you can to manage it. It’s like a lot of these guys, you know that they’ve got some injuries here or dealing with cartilage or meniscus or anything like that, you do your best to manage it. There’ll always be a little wear and tear, it’s just how bad is it.”
And Joseph himself said, “You don’t fix it. Just keep your faith.”
Joseph’s knee injury cost him the final 11 games of the season. At one point, he attempted to return with a heavy brace on his leg, but after just one practice, he was back on the sideline and eventually placed on injured reserve. This has led some to speculate that Joseph’s injury is career-altering, a stance refuted by a single report from Jordan Schultz.
But if we’re being honest, the conversation about the injury—from both the Lions and Joseph himself—has been discouraging at every moment. Hopefully, when the Lions supposedly get more clarity in a month or two, the news will be more positive.