Brian Branch, Kerby Joseph, Sam LaPorta "improving," but not practicing yet

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Lions head coach Dan Campbell gave an update on three veterans coming off of injuries during a Friday press conference. Campbell said that safety Brian Branch, safety Kerby Joseph, and tight end Sam LaPorta are "all improving," but none of them are taking part in practices at this point. Campbell went on to say that the team is not feeling any urgency to see them on the practice field before their offseason program wraps up next month. "That’s not the priority ," Campbell said at a press conference. "It’s not worth all that anyway. . . . The most important thing is continue to let them improve, rehab, all that. They’re in meetings, they’re getting the mental side of this." Branch tore his Achilles in December, Joseph missed the final 11 games with a knee injury and LaPorta had back surgery in November. Campbell said LaPorta has done some walkthrough/jogthrough work and it sounds unlikely that any member of the trio will be doing more than that in the near future.