This is great news for the Detroit Lions. All-Pro safety Kerby Joseph will return to practice, and the Lions are starting his 21-day clock. It’s a moment Detroit fans have been waiting on for a long time.

This will be the first time Joseph has practiced since his aborted comeback attempt last season. That alone makes it a big deal. There’s still a road ahead, though, and how that road plays out depends on one thing: how his knee holds up.

Why Kerby Joseph’s return to practice matters for the Lions

Lately there has been a lot of positivity surrounding Joseph. More and more people have started to believe he could play this year.

Lions coach Dan Campbell added to that feeling last week. He was asked a simple question: Will Kerby Joseph play this year? Campbell said yes. He added that he liked the way Joseph’s rehab was going and that he felt better and more positive about it.

Joseph has also been putting in the work. He has posted videos of his training recently, and everything seems to be leaning the right way.

Now Detroit is taking the next step. Campbell mentioned recently that at some point you have to get to football. This is the Lions getting to football.

What does that mean for Joseph’s timeline?

The thing we’ve talked about so much is that you need to see Joseph practice. That’s what we haven’t seen yet. He hasn’t practiced this season, and nobody knows what it looks like when he does.

“It’ll be great to get him back out there with the guys. …We still got a ways to go, but this is a step in the right direction.”

That’s why I wouldn’t get super excited just yet. I wouldn’t say Joseph is going to suit up against the Vikings. Tempered optimism might be the best way to put it.

More than anything, this is Detroit testing him. The message is pretty clear: Let’s practice, let’s see how the knee holds up, and we’ll go from there.

If it holds up well, things could start to come together. If it doesn’t, the Lions are right where they were before.

“It’s about getting him out there, and literally, man, balls in the air. It’s a handoff. Him breaking from the post and doing it over and over and over in real explosive reps with other bodies around, you know. And we’re not even there yet. This will be he’ll do some individual all that, but we will be progressing to get into that late week, early next week”

The 21-day window gives Detroit some room to work with. My thought right now is the Lions probably take almost all 21 of those days before making a decision. A few days of practice should tell us a lot more about where things stand.

The best and worst case for Detroit

The best case is easy to see. If the knee holds up, the Lions get an All-Pro safety back in their starting lineup. That’s a huge get for any defense, and it’s an even bigger one for a Detroit secondary that has been without him for this long.

If the knee doesn’t hold up, you kind of know the unfortunate answer of how things might go. Nobody wants to think about that, but it’s part of the conversation until Joseph proves otherwise on the practice field.

Still, this is huge news. Joseph hasn’t been on a practice field in a long time, and now he gets his shot. The rehab has looked good. The head coach is confident. The videos have been encouraging.

Now comes the part that actually counts. Kerby Joseph is back. Let’s see what happens.