This past week was an exciting one for the Detroit Lions. They unveiled their new uniforms for the 2024 season, which always gets reactions from fans. Unfortunately, not all of the news on uniform reveal day was positive.
Along with their new threads, some disappointing news was shared by starting safety Kerby Joseph. While speaking to reporters at Ford Field on Thursday, Joseph let it be known that he underwent surgery on his hip during the offseason.
“Y’all just bear with me. But I’ll be back,” said Joseph, via The Detroit News’ Nolan Bianchi.
Because of the surgery, Joseph is going to miss all of the Lions’ offseason workouts. But, on a positive note, he expects to be ready to go when the team opens training camp later in the summer.
In Week 2 of the 2023 regular season against the Seattle Seahawks, Joseph suffered a hip injury. He would miss the next two weeks and was listed as questionable in Week 5 when he returned to the lineup.
Those two games ended up being the only ones Joseph missed, as he wasn’t even on the injury report again. He ended up playing in and starting 15 games, recording 82 tackles with four interceptions.
Both numbers matched the production he had during his rookie season when he played in all 17 games. In the Lions’ playoff run to the NFC Championship, Joseph recorded 10 total tackles.
Given when he underwent surgery, Joseph should be 100 percent healthy once the regular season rolls around. He may be limited at the start of training camp but will have plenty of time to round into shape.
The Lions will benefit greatly from Joseph being healthy and playing an entire season. Detroit’s defense has not yet gotten to the level of its offense, which is all that is holding them back from contending with the other top teams in the NFC.