INDIANAPOLIS – The Detroit Lions currently have some question marks at the safety position.

Kerby Joseph dealt with knee soreness last year that first developed in training camp and progressively got worse, forcing him to miss the final 11 games of the season.

"We've been treating him. He's done a few things. We're in a position now to where we're slowly working him back," head coach Dan Campbell said Tuesday. "What is this going to look like? How is this going to feel? Call it a month from now we'll have a lot better idea. Is this something where he's going to be able to handle what he's going to feel like, or can we get it stable enough or can we get enough strength? It's all of those things."

While the team is in wait-and-see mode with Joseph, fellow safety Brian Branch is in his third month of rehab following a torn Achilles he suffered in early December.

"Look, they're both doing everything they can to get as healthy as possible," Lions general manager Brad Holmes said this week. "We haven't put a hard timeline or deadline, but we've been in regular communication with our medical staff, our medical staff's been in regular communication with the player, obviously, working with them.

"So, I know that they're on track to get as healthy as possible, but I think in like another month or so, then we'll obviously know a lot more."

The new league year and the start of free agency begins in less than two weeks, but Detroit should have a clearer picture of both players' progression and potential timeline for return by April's NFL Draft.

Detroit is high on fourth-year safety Thomas Harper, who stepped in for Joseph and finished with a Top 18 grade from Pro Football Focus at the position this past season. There's a chance Detroit also looks to re-sign free agent Avonte Maddox, who like Harper, stepped in and did a nice job in a reserve role last year.

The NFL Draft could also be an area the Lions look at to bolster the position with the uncertainly surrounding Joseph and Branch. No. 17 is probably a little early unless a player like Ohio State's Caleb Downs, who is not only the best safety in the class but arguably one of the best overall players, inexplicably falls. Toledo's Emmanuel McNeil-Warren is also considered a first-round pick.

There's good depth to the class and a range of skillsets. We could see several safeties come off the board Day 2 and early in Day 3.

Oregon's Dillon Thieneman recorded 306 tackles and eight interceptions over the last three seasons at Oregon and Purdue. He's considered a Day 2 pick.

LSU's A.J. Haulcy is also a Day 2 player in the draft that combines physicality in the run game with ball-hawking skills. He's racked up 162 tackles, eight interceptions and 12 passes defended the last two years at LSU and Houston.

"I take a lot of pride of me being a ball hawk," Haulcy said Thursday at the NFL Scouting Combine. "That's what I want to go do. I want to change the game and get the ball back to our offense so we can score points. I take a lot of pride in that and that's just something I want to continue to do."

There are 13 safeties in this class with a first- through fourth-round grade, so there are early contributors available if the Lions decide to go that direction.