Detroit Lions OTAs Injury Updates: Joseph, Branch, LaPorta, Arnold

Detroit Lions head coach provides injury updates on key Lions defenders, tight end.

Detroit Lions safety Kerby Joseph (31) walks off the field due to an injury during the first half against Cleveland Browns | Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Detroit Lions entered the spring with a roster that had a handful of key players that were rehabbing injuries suffered back in 2025.

Tight end Sam LaPorta had surgery after herniating a disc in his back against the Washington Commanders.

Safety Brian Branch had his 2025 season cut short after suffering a torn Achilles against the Dallas Cowboys.

The player who has caused the most concern among supporters is safety Kerby Joseph. His knee injury prevented him being able to practice consistently and forced him to miss several games last year.

In 2025, Joseph was limited to only six games. What raised eyebrows was head coach Dan Campbell indicating the talented safety may be forced to deal with discomfort in his knee for the remainder of his career.

It is not expected that any of the three will participate heavily in organized team activities or mandatory minicamp in the next few weeks.

Campbell noted that each were improving, but that they would not be practicing. Also, some rookies and cornerback Terrion Arnold will not practice this week.

LaPorta has taken some walkthrough reps, but he will not out at practice.

"That's not the priority. And it's not worth all that anyway," said Campbell. "You know, Laporta has taken some walk-through, jog-through, he's done some of that. He's not going to be out there today. But that's not, you know listen, the most important thing is to continue to let them improve, rehab and all that. That'll take precedence right now. So, they're in meetings, they're getting the mental side of this. And we will just take it day to day.

"There'll be a lot of guys who probably won't practice," Campbell added. "We'll have a couple of these rookies, probably won't do very much. That's that's more precautionary. Some of the rookies, it's the same way every year. They train for the combine or for all of those drills. They don't train for football. So, we just got our hands on them, for I guess going on week three or something like that. So, we just want to be smart with these guys, make sure they're ready to get on the field. We don't want any setbacks. So, there'll be some guys that, don't read into it. ..."

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