NAPA, Calif. -- While red flags might have gone up when first-round draft pick Karl Joseph sat out practice on Thursday -- after all, he missed the Oakland Raiders offseason program rehabbing the knee injury that limited him to four games at West Virginia last fall -- the strong safety intimated the flags should be yellow.
As in caution.
Indeed, Joseph returned Friday for the shorter, helmets-and-shells practice after the team went four fully padded practices in five days. He said sitting out Thursday was more maintenance of the right knee, which had suffered a torn ACL.
“It was a good break,” Joseph said Friday of sitting out the day before.
“The knee’s still not completely 100 percent yet so [I was] just taking a day off to kind of let it rest. Not trying to beat myself up too bad before the season starts.”
Joseph accomplished his goal of being a full-go at the start of camp, so now it is a matter of being mindful with the knee.
“Things that we’re doing are by design,” said coach Jack Del Rio. “We work hard to make sure that we’re working smart, doing the right things with our guys so that they can be at their best. Just continue to strengthen and just kind of preventative and make sure we don’t have issues.
“We’ll push plenty, but there are times when you need to pull back a little bit, and with individuals, it may be wise to do so. And, when that’s the case, we’ll do that.”
Joseph was again running with the first-team defense, as he has since the first day of camp. All-Pro outside linebacker/defensive end Khalil Mack said the relatively diminutive Joseph, who is listed at 5-foot-10 and 207 pounds, already has a nickname.
“Strong neck, man,” Mack said. “He’s a heck of a player, too. Getting out there, he’s still learning some things, but he’s a quick learner. You can tell he has the mindset of a safety and he comes in and flies around and does what does.
“Unfortunately, we haven’t gotten to see him really lay nobody out yet. You can’t really do that against your teammates.”
Mack laughed.
“I’m looking forward to seeing him on the field in game action,” Mack added.
Same goes for Joseph, who is using his first NFL training camp to simply learn his responsibilities on the field and be in the right spot in the defense.
And when tight end Lee Smith, all 6-6 and 265 pounds of him, beat Joseph for a catch in traffic in 11-on-11s, Smith razzed the rookie by putting his arm around him in a 'good try, little buddy' manner.
The fans on hand laughed and Joseph pushed Smith away.
“It was all fun,” Joseph said. “It was a play that I got mad at myself [because] I should have made the play. But, you know it’s going to happen because it’s practice.”
And every day Joseph is on the practice field is another indication that the knee is closer to 100 percent.
