Dan Campbell held another press conference today (Tuesday) because of the unique bye week schedule. The Lions are practicing today and taking the day off on Wednesday. There was only one health update delivered, and it was a nebulous one (again) regarding Kerby Joseph.
After my thoughts on Campbell’s comments regarding Joseph, I’ll review the good news coming out of Lions practice, a massive re-addition to the team, and some problematic “reporting” from national media.
🔴Bad news or high concern
🟡Uncertain or moderately concerning
🟢Good news or low concern
🟡 Kerby Joseph Current Status
“He’s doing well. He’s doing a good job. I’m not going to give you a timetable. But I’ve been pleased with where he’s at.
You’re working at it. And at some point it’s time for football. We all know that and recognize it but we’ll take it one day at a time.
I do [expect him to play this season].”
It sort of sounds like Dan Campbell is talking directly to Kerby when he says “At some point it’s time for football.” When it comes to the presumed knee cartilage issue, any healing or recovery is long-past done at this point - over 12 months since his last game. So is it the Lions or Kerby who are holding back his attempted return right now?
If it’s Kerby, then at some point the decision needs to be made whether he wants to try to play football or not. That may be what Dan Campbell is saying.
As KingJiggly states, Kerby almost certainly will need to play through pain. Unfortunately, it’s not just a pain issue for Kerby, as he has acknowledged there has been swelling and disability as well.
The mental obstacle for Kerby may be in trying to decide if it’s worth sacrificing his long-term knee health to play a little more football.
The real question we maybe should be asking about Kerby Joseph’s status this year is not “Will he play?” but rather “Should he play?”
If his knee is having pain and swelling with football activities, that’s a sure sign that he is incurring further long-term damage. Given that he has not practiced in almost 11 months now, it can be presumed that his knee still can’t handle football activities.
I agree with Matt and Vito that Kerby may come to the conclusion soon (or maybe already) that it’s just not worth it.
As far as Dan saying that he expects Kerby to return this season, it really isn’t something Dan can know until Kerby starts testing his knee with football activities.
For more detailed analysis on Kerby’s knee, start here…
🟢 Detroit Lions Tuesday Practice Participation
Excellent news today as there were zero absences at the Lions practice.
Rock Ya-Sin, who was dealing with a hamstring and missed the last game, returned to practice. While he may have lost his starting job, he’s still very valuable as a backup.
This is great news for Blake Miller, who sustained an unspecified left knee injury during the last game.
DJ Reed, who appeared to hurt his right arm last game, avoided any surprises.
The initial injury report for Lions vs Packers will be released tomorrow.
🟢 Aidan Keanaaina Returns to the Lions
October 19, 2026:
This massive 6’ 3”, 320-pound defensive tackle was given $267,500 guaranteed by the Lions to sign after the draft as a priority UDFA (undrafted free agent). Thus, it was disappointing when he suffered an unspecified injury on August 10, was put on IR, and then waived with injury settlement. But his story with the Lions is not over, as he visited the Lions yesterday and has been re-signed to the Lions practice squad.
The injury settlement allowed him to re-sign with his original team three weeks after the agreed upon recovery time of the injury. He is currently 10 weeks post injury, so the implied injury recovery time would be about 7 weeks. Of course, there are an infinite number of possibilities for the injury, but something like an MCL sprain or high ankle sprain would fit that general timeline.
The Lions clearly saw something they liked in Keanaaina as evidenced by his big guarantee, so it is nice to see him return. Here was my initial medical report and analysis for Aidan Keanaaina…
🔴 Don’t Judge Medical Staffs Based on Public Reports
Yesterday, I wrote about how preposterous the report was that claimed doctors told Jalen Hurts not to go to sleep. Well, a few hours later, Tom Pelissero issued a “clarification” that basically retracted his initial report.
It was almost certainly Hurts’ agent who was the source for the initial misinformation. This is further proof that the “sources” for most national reporters are the agents, who are in the business of dispensing information that makes their clients look good. And agents are not medical professionals, so health information can get misinterpreted or misreported as we saw in this case.
Unfortunately, the medical staff caring for Hurts took some criticism based on the initial false report. It’s important to remember that the medical staffs for these players have no ability to correct a false report or give their perspective on what happened.
For the initial analysis of Jalen Hurts’ blood clot…
Jalen Hurts Blood Clot Analysis
Big health news out of Philadelphia has thrown the Eagles' season into turmoil. After initially playing through a superficial blood clot last week, QB Jalen Hurts now faces a potential multi-week, or even multi-month, absence due to progression of the clot. Here is my breakdown of the timeline, the diagnosis, and what this means for his immediate future.