Juice Scruggs didn't want any part of the debate.
Scruggs has played some of the best football of his career in the Detroit Lions’ 3-2 start. He’s the NFL’s second-highest graded center according to Pro Football Focus, the pivot man on one of the league’s top performing offensive lines
. And he could be out of a job when Cade Mays, the man the Lions signed to start at the center position, returns from the physically unable to perform list this week.Should a player lose his job to injury, as would be the case if the Lions decide to keep Mays, who took first-team reps all training camp before he broke his right wrist, on the bench this week?
Should a team reward a player like Scruggs for his performance on the field?
It’s a riddle Scruggs wouldn't
answer after practice Tuesday, Oct. 20, and the Lions are in the process of figuring out.
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“I don't feel no way about it,” Scruggs said. “It's not my decision. It's out of my hands. It’s up to them to make a decision and whatever decision they make, that's the decision we roll with. And there's no egos on this team. So that's one thing I think we all are on board with that leave your ego outside the building.”
Scruggs said he’s taking both center and guard reps in practice this week, which could hint at the roll the Lions have in mind for him when they host the Green Bay Packers this Sunday, Oct. 25, at Ford Field and in the weeks ahead.
He said he’s “just being prepared for whatever happens,” but when asked later about the identity of the offensive line, he acknowledged where it could be heading.
“I’ll say physical,” Scruggs said. “Physical, smart group, and starting to come together, and I'm excited to see, when Cade goes out there, I'm excited to see him ball out.”
Lions coach Dan Campbell has not named a starting center for this week. He left open the possibility of rotating centers against the Packers in his news conference Monday, though he acknowledged “it’s a little different than [rotating players at] guard, somebody who’s constantly touching the football.”
Lions offensive line coach Hank Fraley, a former center in his playing days, offered little insight into the Lions’ plan against the Packers, but said he got his break as a player due to injury.
Bubba Miller started every game at center for the Philadelphia Eagles in 2000, then broke his ankle on the first series of the Eagles’ preseason finale. Fraley started the first 15 games that season – he had a fumbled quarterback-center exchange with Donovan McNabb on his first career snap – and went on to start the next seven seasons for the Eagles and Cleveland Browns.
“I don't know the whole history of it, but Wally Pipp definitely is for sure,” Fraley said. “That’s kind of how I got my start a little bit, too, due to injury, and I try to not let it go, and that's what you want, opportunities. And I think if you just look at Juice's opportunity, cause that's what we're talking about now, he's done a heck of a job in there. So we want to play the best five and if we could play six at a time out there [we would].”
However things work out this week, Scruggs, who will be an unrestricted free agent after the season, appears to have rejuvenated his career in Detroit.
He made six starts at left guard as a rookie in 2023 and started games at both guard and center in 2024, then lost his starting job last season and spent most of the year as a backup.
The Lions acquired Scruggs in their David Montgomery trade this offseason, and Scruggs said that deal has helped fuel his play on the field this fall.
“Definitely a little extra motivation,” he said. “But I was always – that's how I was raised to have a chip on your shoulder. So nothing new, but definitely, yes, it’s a little motivation. Prove yourself all over again, on a new team. So, yeah, for sure.”
Scruggs said it’s way too early to think about what his strong play means for his future, and he’s only focused on Green Bay now.
He’s improved as a run blocker, he’s gotten better identifying defenses and making line calls, and he might be called on to do both this week though no one will say for sure.
“I don't know how it stands,” Fraley said. “You take the most of your opportunity when you do get in there and you always make it hard for coaches. That was my philosophy, you make it hard for a coach to ever have to take me out, or put the next guy in. So when it comes to injuries, normally, I always had the stance, who is the best five on that and I think we have really a group that you could argue, who's your best seven out there? Who’s your best eight in our room?
“So that's what I like, our competition, our depth. And having Cade back now and what Juice has done is, it only strengthens us as a unit.”
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: Should Lions play a healthy Cade Mays or ride Juice Scruggs' hot hand?
