Ex-Illini Safety Kerby Joseph Involved In Practice Fight With Malik Nabers

Preseason preparation for Detroit Lions safety Kerby Joseph took an interesting turn Tuesday afternoon at a joint practice with the New York Giants.

Both teams begin preseason play later this week, facing one another Thursday at 7 p.m. ET in East Rutherford.

After a routine play, several videos surfaced of Joseph, an Illinois standout in 2021 and 2022, getting into a maddening scuffle with Giants wideout Malik Nabers.

This angle of the Malik Nabers and Kerby Joseph fight is insane

Kerby Joseph wasn’t taking ANYTHING from Malik Nabers#OnePride pic.twitter.com/wlT0huNb1A
— Crunch Time Sports (@officialctpod) August 6, 2024

It is unclear what started the altercation, as neither had a prior beef in college and played in completely different conferences. They never went head-to-head at the collegiate level.

According to The New York Post and ESPN's Jordan Raanan, the Giants and Lions, from a team perspective, have had choice insults from one another. For Joseph and Nabers, neither of them spoke on why they got physical despite Joseph breaking up a pass on the play before.

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The incident likely won't carry over into the regular season, however, as both teams do not play each other. The Giants missed the postseason in 2023, largely due to Daniel Jones tearing his ACL.

For the Lions and Joseph, they came one win away from their first Super Bowl appearance in franchise history, losing to the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC Championship in January.

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While at Illinois, Joseph helped lead the defense as the best in college football in several statistical categories, which included racking up 5+ interceptions and three fumble recoveries by himself. He and the Illini finished 8-5, losing in the ReliaQuest Bowl to Mississippi State.

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Zain Bando is a contributor to Illinois Fighting Illini On SI. He can be reached at zainbando99@gmail.com or follow him on X @zainbando99

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