Kerby Joseph's Secret Sauce Is Trusting His Senses, Instincts
Kerby Joseph put together a rookie season to remember a year ago.
Joseph, the Lions' third-round selection in 2022 (No. 97 overall), compiled 82 total tackles, two forced fumbles and a team-leading four interceptions in his inaugural NFL campaign.
His best performance of the season came in Week 8 against the then-Aaron Rodgers-led Green Bay Packers. In the NFC North divisional tilt, Joseph not only recorded 10 tackles, but he also picked off Rodgers twice. It played a pivotal role in Detroit securing a 15-9 win in the contest. And, for his efforts, Joseph was named the NFC Defensive Player of the Week, becoming the first Lions rookie to earn such honors.
As a result of his successful first year, the ball-hawking safety certainly faces heightened expectations entering the 2023 campaign.
Despite that being the case, Joseph, throughout the first week and a half of training camp, has remained the same player, both on and off the field.
Notably, the second-year defensive back has continued to exert a ton of energy and run to the ball to make big-time, impactful plays.
"Because that’s where the plays happen,” Joseph explained to reporters Thursday, when asked for his logic behind running to the ball. “You never know. There’ll be times where there’s a breakout run, and you don’t know. You’re just running, just running, and you’re able to get a punchout, which causes a fumble. Or your teammate gets a punchout, and now you’ve got a fumble recovery. I feel like it happened multiple times throughout the season, where -- I know we were playing the Vikings on the goal line, Isaiah Buggs got the punchout, and I was right there and I scooped the ball up. (It was) my fumble recovery, but his fumble.
“I like to trust my eyes, trust my abilities. I use sight, and I also use hearing. I can hear receivers running around me, and I’ll be able to feel them, their presence ... Really, all I do is just trust my instincts. I trust my ability to make plays, and I trust (that) my coaches (will) put me in the right spot, in order for me to make those plays.”
Joseph brings an infectious personality to the Lions' Allen Park practice facility day in and day out. And, he's not the only member of Detroit's new-look secondary that does just that.
There's also veteran defensive back C.J. Gardner-Johnson, an offseason acquisition of the organization, who brings the noise both with his trash-talking and play on the field.
Similar to Joseph, Gardner-Johnson has a knack for making plays. As a member of the reigning NFC champion Philadelphia Eagles a season ago, the versatile defensive back amassed a league-high six interceptions.
Joseph feels that he and Gardner-Johnson vibe off each other very well, and will help each other make plays this upcoming season.
"We have energy, but C.J. brings even more energy, like the attitude with it, too. Once he makes a play, that makes everybody else want to make a play, too,” Joseph expressed. “I feel like everyday, it keeps building. It just keeps building, keeps building, until the season comes, and that’s when we’ll know how, again, it’s in full effect.
“I feel like last year when I came in, I didn’t know the playbook really. But, it’s to a point where now, I know the playbook so good, where I can move around and I know what my partner, teammate, is doing next to me. I can incorporate what he’s doing into my play, and allow me to make plays or allow him to make plays.”
Cornerback Jerry Jacobs, who is entering his third NFL season, echoed the sentiment Thursday that Detroit's new and returning secondary pieces are meshing well with one another early on in camp.
"Man, we connecting, we getting better day-by-day," Jacobs said. "The new guys coming in, Chauncey (Gardner-Johnson), Cam (Sutton), they're teaching us a lot of things, too. And, (with) Tracy (Walker) coming back, I just feel like we're all coming together, getting better day-by-day."
The Lions' defensive backs – especially Joseph, Gardner-Johnson and Jacobs – are playing with a great deal of swagger right now.
For Joseph, specifically, his confidence in himself and his abilities never wavers. It consistently stays at "100."
“I just keep balling. That’s it,” Joseph stated to reporters. “I don’t give myself no goals, because I feel like those goals would limit my ability. Like I wouldn’t say, ‘I’m going to go and get five picks,’ because I’ll only get five picks.
“You know 'AG' (Aaron Glenn) always wants the greatest out of all of us. So, he’s just going to keep pressing, keep pressing. Even when we’re at our highest, you can take it up another notch.”
