Things change quickly in the NFL, and the Detroit Lions’ safety position is proof.
The Lions entered the season with one of the best safety tandems in the NFL, featuring the league’s reigning interception leader in Kerby Joseph and a 23-year-old – now 24 – Pro Bowler in Brian Branch.
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Now, there are long-term questions about the future of both.
Detroit Lions safety Kerby Joseph (31), right, talks to safety Daniel Thomas (2) at a timeout against Dallas Cowboys during the second half at Ford Field in Detroit on Thursday, Dec. 4, 2025.
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Branch tore the Achilles tendon in his right leg in last week’s win over the Dallas Cowboys and is out for the season, and Joseph is dealing with a chronic knee issue that has kept him out the past two months.
Achilles injuries are notoriously some of the toughest to come back from, and Lions coach Dan Campbell said Joseph had “a setback” in his attempt to return to the field this week.
Campbell said Joseph, who has not played since an Oct. 12 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs, “could be” a candidate for injured reserve. The Lions (8-5) have four games left in the regular season; an IR stint requires a player to miss at least four games.
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“We’re at the back end of the season now so anything, even if it’s not technically long-term, becomes long-term because we don’t have many games left,” Campbell said.
Asked how serious a setback Joseph had, Campbell said, “I mean it’s just – it bothers him, that’s the best way to say it.”
Joseph is dealing with a cartilage issue in his knee that’s left him in constant pain. In his first extended comments about his injury last week, Joseph said he is not a candidate for offseason surgery.
He could pursue other non-surgical options this offseason instead, including stem-cell therapy.
Detroit Lions safety Brian Branch (32) is injured while playing against the Dallas Cowboys during the second half at Ford Field in Detroit on Thursday, Dec. 4, 2025.
“My knee messed up,” Joseph said Dec. 1.
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The Lions signed Joseph, who has an NFL-best 20 interceptions since the start of the 2022 season, to a team-friendly four-year extension in April that made him at the time the highest-paid safety in the NFL. Before his injury, Branch seemed to be in line for a similar deal as one of the Lions’ most versatile and valuable defensive players.
Now, it seems unlikely the Lions would sign Branch to a long-term contract without first getting him back on the field – and they might need to address the position in the 2026 draft.
Branch is expected to miss 8-12 months in his recovery from surgery.
Campbell said it’s too early to think about how the Lions will navigate their issues at safety in 2026 and beyond.
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“I’m not even thinking about next year right now,” he said. “My focus is right now [is on this week’s game against the] L.A. [Rams] and then beyond. Once we get through this one, then we’re onto the next one.”
With Joseph likely out this week, the Lions will use some combination of Avonte Maddox, Thomas Harper, Daniel Thomas and Erick Hallett at safety. Harper has started the past seven games, but remains in concussion protocol after suffering a brain injury last week. Maddox had eight tackles and forced a fumble in his most extended action of the season last week.
“I hate losing either one of those players. They’re great players. They’re great teammates,” Campbell said. “But as far as worried, I’m really not worried. I really do trust the guys that are going back there for us. I do, man. And what you lose in a couple areas you may gain in other areas having some of these guys back there. So, no, I’m good.”
Dave Birkett covers the Lions for the Detroit Free Press. Contact him at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Bluesky, X and Instagram at @davebirkett.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Kerby Joseph injury update: Lions safety suffers knee ‘setback’