Kerby Joseph isn't going to the Pro Bowl, and wasn't planning on going in the first place. He intends to be busy that weekend.
On the day he was snubbed for the Pro Bowl despite leading the NFL with nine picks and winning the fan vote, Joseph said he'd rather be named an All-Pro -- "that’s the real recognition that people give" -- and that he has a bigger bowl on his mind.
"I feel like Pro Bowl, man, I won the fan vote, I think, or whatever the case is, but man, the Pro Bowl is the Pro Bowl, I’m done talking about it," Joseph said Thursday. "I’m not really worried about it, because I’m focused on the Super Bowl. I wasn’t going to go to the Pro Bowl anyway."
The Pro Bowl is held the weekend between the conference championships and the Super Bowl, when Joseph plans to be preparing for the biggest game of his life.
While the fan vote accounts for one third of Pro Bowl balloting, NFL players and coaches make up the other two thirds. Joseph may have fallen victim to his reputation as a dirty player, stemming from a couple legal hits last season -- for which he was neither flagged nor fined -- that ended in significant knee injuries to Vikings tight end T.J. Hockenson and Rams tight end Tyler Higbee.
It didn't help Joseph's reputation that Matthew Stafford, who was mic'd up for the Lions-Rams playoff game last season, got in Joseph's face immediately after the Higbee hit and was heard saying, "You’re dirty as f**k. It’s been on tape, I’ve seen it."
On Thursday afternoon, Joseph posted a quickly-deleted Instagram story of a photo of himself holding a tablet that was edited to read "F**k Stafford."
Lions defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn, a three-time Pro Bowl corner in his day, said Thursday that "to me, Kerby Joseph is a Pro Bowler."
"He might not have it by name, but he is a Pro Bowler in my opinion. I think he's a Pro Bowler in a lot of opinions across this league, too, and we know where that all comes from," Glenn said. "But he is one of the best, if not the best safety in this league."
Asked why he thinks Joseph was snubbed, Glenn said, “I think we all know that. But it is what it is. The thing is, he knows who he is.”