The Detroit Lions opened the 21-day practice window for free agent center Cade Mays before their Week 5 win against the Arizona Cardinals. While the initial thought is that Mays will be activated before their next game on October 25 against the Green Bay Packers, head coach Dan Campbell made it clear that they are going through all levels of evaluation when it comes to Mays.
That not only means activating him to the roster, but also when he will start.
“We got to see where he’s at,” admitted Campbell. “We got basically two days of half-practices with him,” he said.
Campbell is referring to the idea that the Lions activated him on Wednesday, October 7. So, he was activated Wednesday, practiced Thursday, and Friday is a walk-through. Now, the team is on bye, so they are not practicing. The majority of the time that Mays will be coming back in the practice window will not be time spent practicing.
Detroit Lions Have Big Decision Coming on Cade Mays
Beyond that, Campbell noted that Mays is in a unique spot. In some situations, you can ease a player back in with a fraction of the snaps. However, switching centers between drives or in the middle of the game is not advisable.
The Lions need to be certain that Mays not only can play, but can get through an entire game.
“That’s what’s unique,” added Campbell. “He plays center. Can he go 70 reps? There are a lot of factors that go into it.”
The team has been playing Juice Scruggs with Mays out of the lineup. They need to have him prepared for the plan as well.
Lions Could Start Juice Scruggs
If Mays returns in Week 7, the Lions are likely going to slide Scruggs from center out to guard. They are currently starting Christian Mahogany at left guard, but they have not been happy with his development.
They wanted Ben Bartch to push him, but he has not been healthy. Once Mays is healthy, Scruggs is likely an upgrade over Mahogany, and Mays is expected to be an upgrade over Scruggs. The team should be improving on two offensive line slots.
However, they cannot be putting Scruggs in at guard, then sliding him back over to center in the middle of the game. Then, Mahogany would be in and out of the lineup. The shuffling would impact three different players.
Based on the Lions’ timeline of opening his 21-day practice window, the team could wait until before Week 8 to activate him. They could also activate him as their backup center, but still start Scruggs for one more week.
Campbell made it clear that the team is open to both options when they get back from the bye week.
Lions Coach Reveals Concern Over Cade Mays’ Return