Blake Miller missed the first football game of his life last week because of injury, but had the Detroit Lions played the Buffalo Bills on normal rest, he might have been on the field.
"I think there’s a good chance had it been Sunday, he would have played," Lions coach Dan Campbell said Tuesday, Sept. 22, in his weekly interview on 97.1-FM (WXYT).
Miller injured his knee in the Lions' Week 1 win over the New Orleans Saints on Sunday, Sept. 13, and the Lions lost to the Bills, 41-31, four days later on "Thursday Night Football."
Larry Borom started in Miller's place and struggled against the Bills, allowing 11 pressures, according to Pro Football Focus, 1 1/2 sacks and committing three penalties.
The Lions played without two Week 1 starters on their
offensive line against the Bills, Miller and left guard Christian Mahogany, and Campbell indicated both could return for this week's game against the New York Jets.
"I feel pretty good that [Miller is] trending the right way to be in there but won’t know until we get him out there on the field," Campbell said.
As for Mahogany, Campbell said the third-year lineman will practice this week but didn't commit to him regaining his starting job.
Mahogany and veteran Ben Bartch were expected to split snaps in Week 1 before Mahogany injured his hip on the Lions' second offensive series. Bartch started at left guard and had an up-and-down performance against the Bills in Week 2.
"We’ll see where he and Miller are both at," Campbell said of Mahogany.
If or when
Campbell offered a pessimistic on Kerby Joseph's return to action for the second straight day Tuesday.
Asked what he'd tell fans who worry Joseph will never play football again, Campbell said, "Well, I mean, I wish I could make you feel good. I can’t make you feel good."
"It’s going to come as it comes, and he’s not ready," Campbell said. "And we’re trying to get him there as fast as we can and we’re trying to be as smart about it as we can. And if he’s ready, when he’s ready, of course we want to play him and get him on the field."
Campbell said in his weekly news conference Monday that the Lions won't play Joseph "until he's ready" and indicated that the veteran safety's rehab was derailed by the personal time Joseph spent away from the team this summer.
Joseph has not played in nearly a year, since a game against the Kansas City Chiefs last Oct. 12, because of a degenerative condition in his knee. Asked Tuesday what would have to change to get Joseph on the field, Campbell said frustratingly, "I guess nothing."
Joseph has three years left on the four-year extension he signed last spring., including $13 million guaranteed in 2027.
Dave Birkett covers the Lions for the Detroit Free Press. Contact him at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Bluesky, X and Instagram at @davebirkett.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Lions coach Dan Campbell upbeat about Blake Miller's return, glum on Kerby Joseph
