Before the Detroit Lions kicked off their third OTA practice of the week, coach Dan Campbell took the podium, and clearly, he was expecting some questions about injuries. Before any reporters had a chance to ask any questions, he gave a vague update on safeties Brian Branch and Kerby Joseph, along with tight end Sam LaPorta.
“Kerby, Branch, LaPorta, they’re all improving,” Campbell said. “None of them are practicing. That’s the best I can tell you.”
The media wasn’t going to let him get away with such
a vague update, so Campbell did provide a little more… but not much. When asked if there was any need to see those players get involved during OTAs, when padded practices aren’t allowed, Campbell said it wasn’t worth it.
“That’s not the priority,” Campbell said. “And it’s not worth all of that anyways. Now, LaPorta’s taken some walkthroughs, jog-throughs. He’s done some of that. He’s not going to be out there today. But, listen, the most important thing is: continue to let them improve, rehab, all that. That’ll take precedence right now. So, they’re in meetings, they’re getting the mental side of this and take it day-by-day.”
As a reminder, here’s what each player is currently dealing with:
Branch: Suffered a torn Achilles in early December vs. the Cowboys
Joseph: Dealing with a lingering knee injury that caused him to miss the final 11 games of the season
LaPorta: Underwent back surgery in November
In addition to these three players, Campbell provided two more minor injury updates on cornerback Terrion Arnold and defensive lineman Levi Onwuzurike.
Campbell said Arnold is not expected to practice on Friday. While he didn’t provide details on what Arnold is dealing with, he did say it was precautionary at this point.
“TA probably won’t practice. We have a couple of these rookies that probably won’t do very much,” Campbell said. “And that’s more precautionary.”
As for Onwuzurike, he lost his entire 2025 season to a torn ACL. While Campbell was careful not to hype up the defensive lineman too much, he likes the progress he’s made thus far.
“I like where Levi’s at, and I’ll leave it at that,” Campbell said. “He’s working, he feels good. I’m not hyping anybody up, not in May. It’s not worth it.”
It’s not much of an update from Campbell, but we’ll take what we can get.
After practice on Friday, we’ll provide a full participation list of the players who were and weren’t at practice. Although it’s important to keep in mind that the team is clearly being overly cautious when it comes to players dealing with any sort of injury.
