For the second straight year, the Detroit Lions will head into the regular season with a major question mark at center.
Lions coach Dan Campbell said Cade Mays suffered a wrist injury in practice Sunday, Aug. 9, that will cause him to miss “a significant period” of time. Campbell declined to put a timeline on Mays’ return but said the injury will keep him out into the regular season.
“This’ll be a while,” Campbell said. “I’m not going to give you a timeline. He’ll be ready for the playoffs, I do feel good about that.”
The Lions signed Mays as their major addition in free agency this offseason to help fortify an offensive line that struggled with injuries, new personnel and inconsistency last fall.
Mays took virtually all of the Lions’ first-team reps at center this summer and was in for the Lions’ final period of their non-padded practice Sunday. Campbell said he was injured “in protection” when a “D-lineman made an arm-over move and chopped at it.”
“One of those freak things,” Campbell said.
With Mays likely to open the season on injured reserve − NFL Network reported he’ll miss roughly eight to 10 weeks − it opens the door for one of Juice Scruggs or Seth McLaughlin to earn the starting center job, though Campbell said right guard Tate Ratledge ,whom the Lions considered moving to center this offseason, also will take reps at the position.
The Lions acquired Scruggs in an offseason trade with the Houston Texans for running back David Montgomery. Scruggs, who’s missed nearly a week of practice with a soft-tissue injury, started 20 games the past three seasons with the Texans and can play both guard and center. McLaughlin went undrafted out of Ohio State in 2025 after he tore his Achilles tendon and spent last season on the Cincinnati Bengals’ practice squad.
“I hate it for [Mays] because I felt like he was having a good camp and he had grown so much in our system just in spring,” Campbell said. “And for us, too. But at the same time, there’s a reason why we have Juice here, too, and some of these other guys. And they’re going to get a look. And you brought up McLaughlin, he’s going to get an opportunity. And that’s the best way to find out on some of these guys. I mean, that’s all you can ask for. It’s like, ‘Man, it’s your shot, let’s see where he can go with it.'”
Last year, the Lions juggled personnel on their offensive line after Pro Bowl center Frank Ragnow retired abruptly in June at the age of 29.
Ratledge opened training camp at center but moved to his natural right guard spot three days into camp, and left guard Graham Glasgow moved to center. The Lions released both Glasgow and longtime left tackle Taylor Decker this offseason, moved All-Pro right tackle Penei Sewell to the left side, signed Mays to play center and drafted Blake Miller in the first round to play right tackle.
“We’ve got options,” Campbell said of the Lions’ plan at center going forward. “Listen, it’s the hand you’re dealt and you move on.”
Dave Birkett covers the Lions for the Detroit Free Press. Contact him at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Bluesky, X and Instagram at @davebirkett.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Lions center Cade Mays out for ‘significant’ time with injury
Reporting by Dave Birkett, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
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By Dave Birkett, Detroit Free Press | USA TODAY Network
