The Detroit Lions placed both starting safeties — Brian Branch and Kerby Joseph — on the Physically Unable to Perform list Sunday, along with tight end Tyler Conklin, as the team prepares for its first training camp practices of the summer.
Branch’s inclusion was expected. He tore his Achilles in early December, and head coach Dan Campbell said in June that the recovery had been clean — no setbacks — but declined to set a target date for his return. Asked whether Branch could practice at any point during camp, Campbell did not exactly project confidence: “Uh, I don’t know. I mean, I guess there’s always a chance.”
An Achilles tear in December means you’re working against the calendar. Branch is not a player the Lions can rush, and Campbell knows it. The film doesn’t lie — that injury takes what it takes.
Joseph’s placement was the surprise. The other half of Detroit’s starting safety tandem had spent the weekend teasing otherwise, posting on social media: “How much yall wanna bet im not on there.” He lost that bet. Joseph missed the final 11 games of last season with a knee injury that Campbell described in deliberately vague terms. Surgery is apparently not on the table, and the team has taken a conservative approach to managing the condition.
“We are trying to be as smart as we can and not push this until we absolutely have to,” Campbell said this spring, “because once we’ve done that, then we’ll know one way or another.” Asked more recently for a timeline, Campbell was blunt: “I honestly do not know.”
Conklin, the third player on the list, suffered an undisclosed injury during spring practices. Campbell is expected to meet with reporters ahead of Wednesday’s first camp session, where further details may surface.
None of the three placements are necessarily long-term. Players on the active/PUP list can be activated at any point during camp — sometimes within days of the initial designation. But the stakes sharpen if a player lingers. Anyone still on the list when rosters are cut down at the end of the preseason shifts to reserve/PUP, which carries a mandatory four-game absence to start the regular season.
For Branch, that outcome looks increasingly likely. For Joseph, the Lions are still buying time. Losing both safeties for any stretch of the regular season would strip the defense of its center-field tandem and force Campbell and coordinator Aaron Glenn to dig into the depth chart earlier than anyone in Allen Park would prefer.
Training camp opens Wednesday. The Lions will know more about all three soon enough — and the film doesn’t lie.
