Brandon Joseph started the Detroit Lions' first practice of mandatory minicamp on Tuesday by checking off one of his spring goals: Intercepting a Jared Goff pass to Amon-Ra St. Brown in the red zone.

But a half hour after the workout ended, the Lions' second-year safety still was cursing the way he finished the day — by allowing a touchdown to Kalif Raymond in a roller coaster three-play sequence in seven-on-seven drills.

"Shoulda (bleeping) banjo’d him," Joseph said, using the slang term for trading receivers with his fellow defensive back on a pick play. "Cause basically we knew. He even alerted it, so we knew what they was doing."

Joseph, who signed with the Lions as an undrafted free agent last May, spent all of his rookie season on practice squad but has taken first-team reps at safety this spring in the Lions' injury-riddled secondary.

Slot cornerback Brian Branch is out till at least the start of training camp with a lower leg injury. Starting safety Kerby Joseph (no relation) is not practicing following offseason hip surgery. And rookie cornerbacks Terrion Arnold and Ennis Rakestraw Jr. have been in and out of the lineup with injuries.

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Lions coach Dan Campbell said Brandon Joseph played well enough in practice last season to warrant a longer look on the field — Joseph played in two early-season games as a rookie, but only on special teams — and has shown enough growth this spring that "we like where he’s at right now."

"Every year, we get to the end of the year and we look at these guys, we say, ‘All right, who developed? Who do we need to keep working with? Who’s got room to grow?’" Campbell said. "B-Jo is one of those guys who noticeably improved last year. He didn’t get a chance to play in the season, necessarily. We had him up for (two games), but to play defensive reps. He’s kind of one of those — boy, you wish you could’ve gotten him up, though. There was a comfort level by the end of the year like, ‘Man this guy we think could probably go in there and hold his own a little bit.'"

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On Tuesday, Joseph played opposite Ifeatu Melifonwu at free safety in most defensive packages during team and seven-on-seven drills, though Kerby Joseph took most of the walkthrough reps with the first-team defense before leaving for a side rehab session with trainers.

Brandon Joseph intercepted Goff on the third play of 11-on-11 drills, playing as a robber in underneath coverage near the goal line when Goff tried to squeeze a pass through a tight window to St. Brown in the back of the end zone.

"I don’t think J.G. saw me," he said. "Probably was looking more at the matchup and then I was sitting right there for it."

And he gave up two red zone touchdowns sandwiched between a would-be big hit in seven-on-seven work in the final period of the day.

On the first play of the sequence, Joseph was a split-second late reacting to a short pass to Raymond over the middle. Goff looked off his first receiver on the play, and by the time Joseph made a play for the ball, Raymond spun outside and was out of reach, on his way to the end zone.

Joseph was positioned perfectly to lay a big hit on a quick slant to Jameson Williams on the next play, drawing praise from veteran defensive assistant Jim O'Neil, then got beat by Raymond again on a rub route for a touchdown on the next play.

Joseph called off his cornerback's alert to switch receivers on the play, then said he compounded his mistake by peeking into the backfield as he guessed wrong on Raymond's route.

"I jumped it as if it was going to be an out, he wheeled up and now, bad eyes and he was able to get behind me," Joseph said. "Whether we pre-snap, we banjo it, or if I stay locked just having better eyes through man technique. That’s the type of stuff I mean by I can’t (do that again)."

Joseph said that's his goal for the final two practices of minicamp and in the last week of organized team activities next week, to cut down on his mistakes and not make the same one twice.

He's played well enough so far to feel like "I have a good chance going into this season to have a big role on this team," and he has a chance to make a strong impression on coaches heading into training camp.

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"A lesson I kind of have learned through college and the league is just staying mellow through the roller coaster," Joseph said. "There’s going to be highs, there’s going to be lows and just staying level-headed, making sure that you just really move on to the next play no matter what the previous play has.

"I ain’t going to lie, personally it was a goal of mine to get a pick this OTAs. It was, (shoot), I better have got one this week before this (stuff) ended or I would have been mad at myself. So yeah, I was definitely happy about that and like you said I got to turn around and make sure that I finish the days because giving up touchdowns is never OK. So just really staying level-headed, making sure I can move on to the next play and always be in the best mental space to make a play."

More observations from Tuesday's practice

Starting linebacker Alex Anzalone was back at practice Tuesday after missing the first two weeks of OTAs. Anzalone declined to say why he missed the voluntary workouts.

The Lions still were without several key players for injury reasons, including Branch, Arnold, Kerby Joseph, Marcus Davenport, D.J. Reader, Kyle Peko, Jahmyr Gibbs and Taylor Decker. Frank Ragnow was in uniform but held out of team drills, as usual, because of lingering health issues, and Emmanuel Moseley, who is returning from a torn ACL, was excused from practice after the birth of his child.

Early glimpse of starting lineup?

I don't read too much into position groupings this time of year, and coaches sometimes move players around to see how they do with certain units and to balance out numbers on their practice script. But Derrick Barnes continued to work with the outside linebackers in individual drills on Tuesday, while Anzalone and Jack Campbell were the first pairing of inside linebackers; Amik Robertson and Ennis Rakestraw Jr. were the only two slot cornerbacks when that group separated in position drills; Daurice Fountain got pre-practice installation work on the No. 1 field with the first-team offense at receiver, while Donovan Peoples-Jones was on the No. 2 field; and rookie defensive lineman Mekhi Wingo worked with the interior linemen in position drills, though general manager Brad Holmes touted his edge ability after the draft.

The Lions will have a decision to make at outside linebacker. Marcus Davenport is listed as an outside linebacker but will play as a defensive end/outside linebacker hybrid. Barnes adds pass rush in three-linebacker sets, and still has the flexibility move inside. And James Houston, Mathieu Betts and Mitchell Agude also worked with the outside backers in position drills on Tuesday.

Campbell said Betts, last year's CFL sack leader, has shown "more versatility ... than I think I even realized" playing in coverage. Houston, of course, had eight sacks in seven games as a rookie before missing most of last year with a broken leg. And Agude has flashed playmaking ability in every open practice this spring.

So how'd Jared Goff look?

Goff threw three interceptions on Tuesday — two to Jack Campbell — in a sloppy overall day for the offense.

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Campbell intercepted a deflected pass at the end of situational work, when the first-team offense started first-and-10 from its own 20, down four points, with 47 seconds on the clock. Goff drove the offense to the opposing 32-yard line, then threw a pass over the middle that deflected high in the air (I didn't see by who). Sam LaPorta jumped to try to knock the ball down and tipped it into a diving Campbell's hands to end the period.

Campbell also had a goal line interception on a Goff pass to St. Brown in seven-on-seven drills, and Khalil Dorsey had a pick-six on an errant Hendon Hooker throw early in the Lions' situational period.

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Campbell could be headed for a breakout second season after playing mostly in a backup role as a rookie. He's big and long, can rush the passer and takes up a lot of space in passing lanes. He's going to be a key part of the defense this fall.

Everyone loves the backup QB, right?

Hooker had another topsy-turvy day. His interception came with the offense backed up near its own goal line, on a quick out to Fountain. He also airmailed a smoke route to Shane Zylstra in team drops and had an interception dropped by Malcolm Rodriguez in seven-on-seven, though he closed the later period with nice touchdown throws to Maurice Alexander and Peoples-Jones.

It bears repeating, but Hooker is extremely young in his development after missing last season and is going to have more days like this. I think he's pretty locked into a roster spot, but if the Lions needed a backup to win a game right now, they'd have no choice but to play Nate Sudfeld.

Rookie wall

Rookie running back Sione Vaki made the catch of the day, snatching a slant out of the air high above his head as he stumbled to the ground on the goal line. Vaki was a receiver in high school, not a running back, and I'd guess his biggest offensive contributions this fall come catching balls out of the backfield.

∎ Last note: Lions owner Sheila Hamp was in attendance Tuesday.

Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on X and Instagram at @davebirkett.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Lions observations: Topsy-turvy day for improved Brandon Joseph