Kerby Joseph says his fate is in God's hands: "I just woke up one day and my knee was swollen"

Kerby Joseph's season has begun how many expected it would, with the star safety being placed on the Physically Unable to Perform list ahead of training camp.

Joseph won't be able to practice and test his injured knee until the Lions activate him. And the Lions won't know what he can do this season -- and beyond -- until they take that step.

Joseph suffered one knee injury in training camp last year, then another in the Lions' Week 4 win over the Browns. He re-injured it in their Week 6 loss to the Chiefs and didn't play again.

Joseph, 25, offered a semi-encouraging update Sunday via his new X account, telling his followers that "I can’t tell yall everything" but "I can walk now, I’m not in hella pain nomore, so I’m not dropping to the floor like the Kansas game."

"If yall wanna know if I can play this season just ask God … send some prayers also," Joseph wrote.

Joseph briefly left the Chiefs game after taking a shot to his knee, went into the medical tent on the sidelines, then came back out and finished the game. A couple attempts to return later in the season were aborted after his knee didn't respond favorably to practice.

Asked on X what happened in the medical tent that night, Joseph said that he "got on my knees n prayed" and then "popped back out there." He said later, "I didn’t mean to get hurt I just woke up one day and my knee was swollen."

Joseph's knee issue is degenerative and beyond the point of surgical repair, something he himself has acknowledged. Asked last season about the nature of his injury, Joseph described it like this: "Yeah, bro, my knee's messed up." Asked how he goes about fixing it, he said, "Don't fix it. Just keep the faith ... Trust in God's plan."

The ongoing hope is that continued rehab will stabilize it to the point that Joseph can perform. He's entering the first season of his four-year, $86 million extension, but the Lions could cut him next year and eventually save money against the cap.

When Dan Campbell was asked during OTA's about his confidence in Joseph getting back to his former self this season, he said, "Really, I don’t know. I honestly do not know."

"I know this," said Campbell, "we’ve done everything we can do and he’s done everything he can do to this point, and we are trying to be as smart as we can and not push this until we absolutely have to -- because once we’ve done that, then we’ll know one way or another. And it’s not worth it right now.

"We’re just slowly building, continuing to strengthen there, he’s getting treatment, he’s done some of these different things at different places to try to help. So I feel good about that. I feel good that we’ve done everything we can and so has he. Honestly we probably won’t know until we get into the thick of training camp."

Either Joseph's knee will respond well when he pushes it in training camp, or it won't. Either the Lions will have their All-Pro safety back on the field this season, or they won't.

Only time, and practice, will tell.