RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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0 Share Newsweek is a Trust Project member See more of our trusted coverage when you search. Prefer Newsweek on Google to see more of our trusted coverage when you search. The Detroit Lions have lost another player to injury just days before their preseason opener against the Cincinnati Bengals on Thursday.
Lions coach Dan Campbell announced center Cade Mays suffered a "significant" fracture on a small bone in his wrist during practice on Monday.
Campbell described the injury as a freak accident that happened during a protection rep.
"It was just in protection," Campbell said. "He was rushing, the D lineman made a arm-over move and chopped at it. It's one of those freak things."
Mays is expected to be out for approximately 8-10 weeks, according to a report from NFL insider Ian Rapoport .
This season will be Mays' first with the Lions after signing a three-year contract with Detroit in free agency in March. He previously played for the Carolina Panthers (2022-25) and attended training camp as part of the New York Giants' practice squad in 2024.
The Lions signed Mays with the expectation he would serve as a long-term center for the team after the retirement of Frank Ragnow last season. Detroit utilized Graham Glasgow at center in 2025 but ultimately cut him before free agency opened up.
Now that Mays will miss the start of the season, the Lions will have to turn to other options for a temporary replacement.
The Lions could use Juice Scruggs, Seth McLaughlin, Michael Niese and Tate Ratledge as centers this season. Scruggs is currently recovering from a soft-tissue injury, and Ratledge is expected to be the starting right guard but could spend some time at center if needed.
"Those are the guys, that's why they're here. Juice is dealing with a little bit of an injury, soft tissue. He won't be out there today," Campbell said. "It'll be still a few more days before he's back, but certainly Juice is a candidate. McLaughlin's gonna get looks, obviously. He'll probably run mostly with the ones today, Niese has done it and then Ratledge is gonna work. I don't see him doing team, but we've got to get him back up to speed with doing a little snapping just in case. We've got options. Listen, it's the hand you're dealt and you move on."
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