Former Illini Football Player Kerby Joseph Gets in a Scuffle

Former Illini football safety Kerby Joseph, now with the Detroit Lions ended up in a scuffle with Giants wide receiver Malik Nabers in a joint practice today. Joseph has quickly made a name for himself in the NFL after the Detroit Lions drafted him in the third round of the 2022 NFL Draft. Kerby Joseph is coming off a terrific second season in Detroit where he had four interceptions for the second season in a row making his career total too eight.

It’s great to see Kerby Joseph flourishing in the NFL and hopefully, this fight with rookie Malik Nabers is just a blip on the radar of an otherwise great career. I think it is fair to chalk this up as two competitors going at one another in an intense practice, and that happens in training camp.

Better angle of the Malik Nabers/Kerby Joseph fight….

Nabers definitely made contact first, and then things went bananas.

( @trademarkse) pic.twitter.com/ukL1fbcvU2 https://t.co/XDKZDALVCM

— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) August 6, 2024

Kerby Joseph’s Career with the Illini Football Program

Remember, Joseph did not have a great career with the Illini except for his final season with the program. He came in as a freshman as a defensive back under Lovie Smith. He then changed positions for his junior season to wide receiver.

However, it wasn’t until his senior season that he found his niche in then-defensive coordinator Ryan Walters’s defense. Switching him back to a defensive back was the best thing for Joseph’s career. He finished with five interceptions that season and ended up being a huge reason why the Illini defense was so good leading them to an 8-5 record in the 2021-2022 season.

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