Notes: Lions safety Kerby Joseph takes us back to his hometown

I still fondly remember in 2022, during Detroit Lions safety Kerby Joseph’s rookie year, when former teammate DeShon Elliott spoke really highly of Joseph after a breakout two-interception performance against the Green Bay Packers.

“He’s just out there playing free,” Elliott said of Joseph’s coming out party against the Packers. “Kerb a big-ass kid. But he a big-ass athletic freak kid, so I think Kerb will be playing in this league for a very long time. He’s smart. He wants to be great. He wants to learn. He’s OK with the confrontation. He’s OK with hard feedback. He’s OK with that.”

Right away, I thought that Lions general manager Brad Holmes may have done it again. Fast-forward to the present day and sure enough, Joseph is widely regarded as one of the best safeties in football. And in this installment of, “Under the Helmet: Kerby Joseph,” we follow the young star back to his hometown of West Orlando, Florida where we learn about what makes Joseph tick, as well as more about his Haitian heritage.

“My mom is from Haiti and my dad is from Haiti/ I got five brothers and three sisters. You can imagine, like, it’s loud in there,” Joseph laughed when discussing his upbringing.

The Lions award-winning video and media staff always does a tremendous job with this series and this installment is no different. So, if you have the time, I highly recommend watching right here.

And now, onto the rest of today’s notes:

• Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press spoke with Lions defensive end Za’Darius Smith in this week’s iteration of, “Five questions.”

• And in my opinion, they are still just getting started.

• This picture has no business going this hard.

• Lions quarterback Jared Goff joined Tim Twentyman of DetroitLions.com for his Week 16 preview.

• Another really great article from Tyler Dunne where he sat down with Lions assistant head coach Scottie Montgomery to discuss why Detroit seems unbothered by all the outside noise.

• Welcome, Kalu. What are you doing on Sunday at 1 PM, and have you ever set an edge before?

• Words straight from the best player in the National Football League.

• NFL legend Steve Smith Sr. broke down some tape of Lions wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown and it is as awesome, as you would expect it to be.