Allen Park — Rookie safety Kerby Joseph is a long ways away from being a difference-maker for the Detroit Lions.
However, the road to contribution is starting to look a lot shorter than it did back in April, when the team drafted him with a third-round pick out of Illinois. Joseph has had an impressive training camp so far. He is, as defensive backs coach Aubrey Pleasant described him, “a project,” but that hasn’t stopped him from impressing early on in his career.
“When we say project, it’s we don’t expect him to come in Day 1 and compete for the starting spot, but there’s something about his intangibles that maybe mid-year or after this year, he’ll be able to excel,” Pleasant said Tuesday. “And he’s actually surpassed all that.”
Joseph played the most snaps (52) of anybody on the Lions’ defense in Saturday’s 27-26 preseason win against the Colts. He was second on the team in tackles (five), which is notable for the fact that Joseph’s tackling was a question mark coming out of college. It’s also the area where Pleasant feels like Joseph has made the biggest strides this offseason.
“The biggest thing I was worrying with him about coming out of college was tackling consistently and doing it well, and I think that’s one thing that he’s actually done pretty good at this level,” Pleasant said.
Joseph attributed his quick pickup of the tackling game to his coaches and teammates, and, more subtly, his own self-awareness of his game.
“It’s not only me driving myself, it’s also them. So, I’m thankful for them,” Joseph said. “Every day I come…I tell myself, like, this is something you told yourself, that’s your weakness, and you wanna make your weaknesses your strengths. I want to be the best player out there, so work on my tackling.”
At 6-foot-1 and 203 pounds, Joseph has the measurables. He ran a 4.45 40 at his pro day and has explosiveness to boot. He picked off five passes in his fourth and final season at Illinois and earned All-Big Ten first-team honors.
But since he’s gotten into the Lions’ facility, Pleasant said that he’s impressed with Joseph’s mind.
“You have to separate, ‘OK, what is football intelligence? What is football IQ? And how is that different from instinct?’ You don’t really know until you get a guy in the room,” Pleasant said. “He has this unique style of learning. He goes about it, he asks questions kind of this way sometimes, but we all love it because he’s a football junkie and he loves it.
“I’m telling you, he’s excelled and he’s so frustrated right now at his performance. And as a coach, that’s all you could ask for.”
Working on the night moves
Lions coach Dan Campbell has been throwing curveballs to his team ahead of Sunday’s preseason finale at Pittsburgh. That started Monday with a player-led practice, which was a rousing success by all accounts.
“I’ve had the luxury of being a part of several teams that didn’t maybe start so well, but by the time I left, we ended up in a good spot,” Pleasant said. “And a lot of that was because we were a player-led team and not a coach-led team. Right now, we’re trying to transition from such.
“Right now, the energy, the juice, the want-to, the warrior ethos, a lot of that is coming from the top dog. And Dan is kind of sprinkling down.”
The trick plays continued into Tuesday, as the Lions gathered in Allen Park for a practice under the setting sun. Previously, most training camp practices had been held in the morning. Tuesday’s practice started at 6 p.m. and the late start time didn’t seem to be too disruptive, as it produced one of the more high-tempo, physical practices of camp so far.
“I was ready for it. I’m one of those guys, I don’t care when or where, we’ll practice in the parking lot if we need to, so I was cool with it,” offensive lineman Logan Stenberg said.
Battle for RB3
One of the more intriguing developments of Saturday’s win over the Colts was the breakout performance for running back Justin Jackson.
Jackson signed with Detroit at the beginning of the month and only got three carries in the preseason opener against Atlanta.
Camp performance, preseason performance, last year’s performance — it seemed like all signs were pointing toward Craig Reynolds being locked into the third-string running back role. And while familiarity likely gives him a leg up on the competition, Jackson undoubtedly raised some eyebrows with his seven-carry, 54-yard sample last weekend.
“For a guy to come off the street like that and go out there and just compete, from special teams to playing running back, you see him out there in blitz pickup,” running backs coach Duce Staley said. “You see him out there understanding exactly what we’re trying to get done offensively. He’s challenging other guys. And when you can get that heat, that challenge heat I call it, in the room, everybody else picks their game up.”
Jackson spent his first four NFL seasons with the Los Angeles Chargers and averaged 5 yards per attempt over that span.
He not only has a better track record than running backs Jermar Jefferson and Godwin Igwebuike, who come in at the tail end of the positional depth chart, but he’s also outproduced them in the preseason.
When it comes to Reynolds, who had seven carries for 37 yards on Saturday, don’t expect Staley and Co. to abandon the bandwagon so quickly.
“(Reynolds) kind of reminds me of (Jackson) a little bit. Coming in, being able to take advantage of opportunities and every opportunity. No matter what it is, he’s going to take advantage of it,” Staley said. “Special teams, he’s out there running down kickoffs, kick returns, he’s doing his thing blocking. Then he comes in as a running back, doesn’t skip a beat, continues to be successful and productive.
“I’m a big Craig fan.”
nbianchi@detroitnews.com
Twitter: @nolanbianchi