For several weeks now, we’ve been talking about the crossroads the Detroit Lions face under center. Cade Mays signed a three-year, $25 million deal this offseason to take over that position, but after breaking his wrist in training camp, Juice Scruggs manned the pivot for the first five games of the season. Mays is set to return to play this week against the Green Bay Packers, but Scruggs played so well that he deserves consideration to keep the job.
During his radio appearance Wednesday on 97.1 The Ticket, Lions coach Dan Campbell more or less put the discussion to bed. All signs point to Cade Mays taking over at center this Sunday.
“We really worked the heck out of Cade yesterday. He got some quality reps, and we wanted to get him here,” Campbell said. “… We want to get this Band-Aid off Cade. I thought he did a good job yesterday. I thought he looked good.”
In his answer, Campbell was sure to give his flowers to Scruggs and the work he’s done so far.
“Juice did a hell of a job for us,” Campbell said. “I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again: thank goodness we got Juice, man. He’s been outstanding for us.”
An out-of-the-box option to relieve Mays is to rotate him with Scruggs throughout the game. However, Campbell made it very clear that he was not interested in doing this, as it could interfere with a ton of offensive operations.
“I don’t see us doing that,” Campbell said. “You go around, and all these questions come in. It’s different at guard. Jon, you know that. Guard and center are really different. That guy handles the ball. The snap count is different. Everything: the snap, the timing, the calls, the quarterback’s comfort with a guy over and over again.”
So Mays appears to be in line to make his first start for the Lions on Sunday, while Scruggs will both be the primary backup center and compete for time at left guard.