Two weeks into OTAs, the Lions are already dealing with rising stars, tough injuries, and growing questions surrounding Kerby Joseph’s status.
With the second week of OTAs finishing up, we saw many things, some good, some bad, and some ugly. Dan Campbell, Jahmyr Gibbs, and Derrick Barnes, amongst others, all chatted with the media to let us know how things have begun to shake out.
The Good
We saw players who did not participate in Week 1 of OTAs start to do some drills, such as Terrion Arnold and Sam LaPorta. Both were limited to just walkthrough drills, but seeing them back on the field is always a good thing.
Detroit began to run situational drills and simulated a scenario where they were down one point with 14 seconds to go from the opponent’s 48-yard line and no timeouts left. A surprise draw play came where Gibbs took it up the middle for five yards, which then led to an immediate spiking of the ball.
Jake Bates would go on to attempt a 61-yard field goal, which he would end up pushing wide right. While Bates did miss the field goal, it was a good practice moment for him.
Third-string and undrafted free agent, Luke Altmyer has shown some promise and received praise from Dan Campbell. Drew Petzing even called him “unflappable.”
The Bad
When it was time for the second team to run the simulated drill, it was not particularly great. Teddy Bridgewater would throw two passes out of bounds, draining all the clock.
Detroit opted to move the field goal up, where Bates would this time connect on a field goal from 50-60 yards.
The first season-ending injury came to rookie WR and fifth-round pick Kendrick Law, who would end up tearing his ACL. Detroit wasted little time finding a replacement, as they would sign rookie undrafted free agent Kyre Duplessis.
The Ugly
During Dan Campbell’s press conference with the media, he spoke about Kerby Joseph, and what he said wasn’t particularly the best words that he could’ve said.
Campbell stated:
“I honestly do not know. We’ve done everything we can do. He’s done everything we can do.”
He says they’ve done everything they can and that they won’t know until they get into the thick of training camp.
What this leads me to believe is that Detroit is being overcautious with Joseph, as they should. These are just the first couple weeks of practice, and if the Lions don’t have to rush Joseph back, they shouldn’t.
A couple things to note are: if this injury was truly significant and Detroit did know about it, they would have likely drafted a safety, which they did not.
On the flip side, Detroit did bring back Avonte Maddox and signed both Chuck Clark and Christian Izien.
Now feels like a time to remind everyone that despite what you heard, Joseph had no knee injuries in college, had no medical red flags with his knee going into the draft, and had no knee issues prior to the 2025 season.
Something unfortunate that truly came out of the blue for him and Detroit.
