The Detroit Lions are not banking on having either of their starting safeties on the field when they open the regular season Sept. 13 against the New Orleans Saints.
Lions coach Dan Campbell said before the first practice of training camp he hopes to get Brian Branch back on the practice field in "late training camp, maybe early September," and that it would "be a bonus" if Kerby Joseph was able to play Week 1.
The Lions placed Branch and Joseph on the physically unable to perform list over the weekend as both are recovering from season-ending injuries last year.
Branch tore his Achilles last December and was not expected to be ready for the start of camp, while Joseph is trying to return from a cartilage issue in his knee.
Two of the best safeties
in the NFL when healthy, Branch missed five games last season and Joseph missed 11. Joseph has not played since an Oct. 12 game against the Kansas City Chiefs.
Campbell said during mandatory minicamp in June he wasn't sure when Joseph would be able to return or how much he would contribute this fall.
"Everything that I told you in spring, it still applies to that," he said Wednesday, July 29. "We’ve been working to this, but we’re still in this, OK, he’s starting to, he’s running on the ground, man, we’re starting to do change of direction, some of this, but we’re really, we’re not going to grind this for another two or three weeks, man, so I cannot give you a true answer.
"He’s working his tail off, he has not really had a vacation, he’s been here with our guys busting his tail, so he’s putting in the work, he feels pretty good right now, but there — we got a long way to go and there is still an unknown, but I like where he’s at, we like where he’s at."
Joseph worked on a side field with trainers at the start of practice Wednesday while Chuck Clark and Avonte Maddox took first-team reps at safety.
Asked how much he hopes to have Joseph on the field before the regular season, Campbell said his timeline is similar to Branch's.
"To me, if we got him back for the first game, that would be a bonus," Campbell said. "I mean, that would be a like, 'Whoa, OK.' I don’t expect that, I’m not looking for that. I feel like he’s more on the Branch plan a little bit, and that’s if everything goes well and everything goes according to plan with him and we got everything on our side. But he’s doing well."
Campbell offered updates before practice on several other injured Lions:
- On TE Tyler Conklin, who also is on PUP with a calf injury: "Conklin’s going to probably be about two weeks here, somewhere in there. He’s running. He got a little calf back in the spring, we’re hopeful, no setbacks, we’re trying to be smart with him. But hopefully get him back as soon as possible so we can get some reps on him."
- On DB Christian Izien, who is on the non-football illness list: "Izzy just had a little flu bug, we’re going to make sure he’s good to go. Hopefully by Friday we get him in practice here."
- On LG Christian Mahogany, who is on the non-football injury list with an undisclosed injury: He "needs a couple days and then he’ll be ready."
- On Branch: "Branch is doing well. His’ll be, we — obviously PUP, there’s no setbacks, take it as it comes and we’ll see. I’m sure late training camp, maybe early September he can start practicing, we’ll see. But he’s doing well."
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' Dan Campbell gives injury updates on Kerby Joseph, Brian Branch
