The outlook for Kerby Joseph remains hazy. This much is clear: he won't play Sunday against the Patriots.
Asked Tuesday if Joseph could make his season debut in the Lions' international game, Dan Campbell said on 97.1 The Ticket, "I’ll cut it out (the speculation). I don’t see him playing. I don’t see him playing in Germany."
Campbell's tone was considerably less hopeful than it was the last couple weeks, for what it's worth. He has always been tempered as Joseph tries to return from a chronic knee injury, frequently noting that getting back to practice was merely the first of several important steps. But Campbell was cautiously optimistic as the star safety cleared a couple hurdles after the Lions started his evaluation window on Wednesday, Oct. 28.
Joseph made it through a week of individual drills, then participated in team drills for the first time last Thursday. The next day, safeties coach Jim O'Neil said that Joseph "looked a lot better than I anticipated him looking, so it was very encouraging. Now he’s gotta stack multiple days, so today will be a big day for him, but he looked awesome yesterday at practice."
"It’s been a year since he’s been on the grass and it’s been a year and three-quarters since he's really played at a Pro Bowl, high level because he was fighting that thing for six or seven weeks last year, so you just didn’t know," said O'Neil. "And again, he's worked his ass off. He’s gone through a mental battle, he’s gone through a physical battle, and he’s in a great place right now and I’m excited for him.
"I know how hard it must be to be at the top of your game and then have it taken away from you, and he’s grinded to get back to the level that he's used to playing at, and his standard. So hopefully we can stack some days here, and then we'll see what the future brings."
When Campbell was asked Monday if he expects Joseph to play in Germany, he said, "Well, he did a good job last week, so we want to get him some more work." By Tuesday, Campbell was ruling Joseph out. This also comes a day after the Lions traded for free safety Andre Cisco for added depth in the secondary.
It makes sense that the Lions wouldn't want Joseph's first game in more than a year wedged between overseas flights, with the team flying to Germany on Thursday afternoon and flying back immediately after the game. For that matter, and the fact that Joseph needs an extended runway to get going, the Buccaneers game next Sunday the 22nd always felt like the most realistic target, if the Lions can get him there.
The complication there is that they play again four days later on Thanksgiving against the Bears. That would be asking a lot of Joseph's knee, even with a mini bye on the other side. And if the Lions wait until Thanksgiving to return him to action, they'd be leaning on Joseph in their biggest game of the year to date without knowing for sure how he'd hold up.
Fact is, there's no perfect launch point for Joseph at this juncture of the season. But the clock is ticking on the Lions to make a decision. They have until next Wednesday the 11th to determine whether Joseph will be activated or shut down for the rest of the year.
