Brian Branch and Cade Mays likely will have to wait until after the bye to make their season debuts.
Detroit Lions coach Dan Campbell said it would be "a tall order" for Branch to play this Sunday against the Arizona Cardinals after he returned to practice this week for the first time since tearing his Achilles tendon last December.
Campbell said the same applies to Cade Mays, who returned to practice this week for the first time since breaking his wrist in training camp.
“He’s looked good for two days," Campbell said of Branch. "He’s looked good. I think that’s a tall order for this week. Want to be as smart as we can with him. We’re going to work him back in and make sure that he gets enough reps and we all collectively feel like, all right,
we’re ready. So love where he’s at right now."
The Lions opened the 21-day practice window for Branch and Mays this week, and Campbell said both will stay in town to continue their rehabs during next week's bye.
The hope, Campbell said, is that both will be ready to play when the Lions host the Green Bay Packers on Oct. 25.
The Lions placed Branch on the physically unable to perform list this summer as they brought him back slowly from an Achilles injury he suffered last Dec. 4 in a win over the Dallas Cowboys.
When healthy, Branch is one of the best safeties in football, and his return should boost a Lions secondary that ranks last in the NFL in pass defense and has struggled with assignment and execution errors through four weeks.
Mays, the Lions' biggest free agent acquisition of spring, opened the season on injured reserve after suffering his injury in early August. He's expected to start at center once healthy. Juice Scruggs, the Lions' fill-in center the past four weeks, could compete for the left guard spot once Mays returns.
"They’re going to be here, continuing to condition, get ready, [do as much] football stuff as they can do without it being that with the training staff," Campbell said. "And then, man, let’s get them going Green Bay week. Let’s get them going and then we’ll assess, hopefully by midweek we’ll have a pretty good idea. Would love to get them ready to go versus Green Bay, I think that is after the bye."
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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: Dan Campbell: 'Tall order' for Brian Branch, Cade Mays to play vs Cardinals
