The Detroit Lions have had some bad luck at center, and that may continue moving forward. It started when Cade Mays suffered a fractured wrist and backup Juice Scruggs missed time with his own injury. Scruggs is thankfully back and set to be the starter.
But, now, with training camp concluded on Thursday, the Lions are dealing with more center issues.
Let’s get into it in our daily training camp injury report.
Returned to practice:
- OL Miles Frazier (undisclosed)
- EDGE Ahmed Hassanein (unknown)
Frazier technically returned to practice on Wednesday, but he was limited to individual drills.
On Thursday, he was with the second-team offense, serving as the right guard. While that has normally been Mason Miller’s job, Miller had to play as the second-team center due to Seth McLaughlin’s absence (more on that in a bit).
Despite Dan Campbell saying that Hassanein was going to sit out another practice, he was participating on Thursday and even got some team action during the scrimmage.
Not practicing:
- RB Isiah Pacheco (knee)
- OT Giovanni Manu (NFI)
- C Cade Mays (wrist)
- C Seth McLaughlin (unknown)
- G Michael Niese (leg)
- EDGE Payton Turner (back)
- EDGE Derrick Moore (unknown)
- LB Jimmy Rolder (leg)
- LB Trevor Nowaske (leg)
- S Thomas Harper (ankle)
- S Christian Izien (undisclosed)
- S Kerby Joseph (PUP, knee)
- S Brian Branch (PUP, Achilles)
McLaughlin was missing from practice, leaving the Lions extremely shorthanded at center. Detroit came into camp with Cade Mays, Scruggs, McLaughlin, and Michael Niese as their four centers, in that order. Now Mays, McLaughlin and Niese are sidelined.
At this point, we don’t have any idea if McLaughlin’s absence is injury related, but this could leave the Lions in a tight spot for Saturday’s preseason finale. They likely don’t want to play Scruggs, as he’s projected to start in Week 1. But they may only have one healthy center on the roster: Gus Hartwig, who was signed earlier this week. That said, maybe they just roll with Mason Miller at center with the starters, and Hartwig the rest of the way. Though, it’s worth noting Miller and quarterback Luke Altmyer had several botched snaps during Thursday’s practice, and Miller did not play a lick of center in college.
On Thursday evening, the Lions placed Payton Turner on injured reserve. Either his season is over, or the Lions will release him with an injury settlement. Either way, it’s a disappointing end for Turner, who just can’t seem to shake the injury bug.
Campbell provided an update on Moore prior to practice, noting that the rookie defensive end will miss a little time, but they hope to get him back sometime next week before the start of the season.
Injured during practice
- S Avonte Maddox (unknown)
We didn’t get an update from the team after practice, but on the very last play of practice, Maddox went down and was tended to by trainers. They appeared to be working on his upper body, and he walked to the locker room with trainers when practice had officially concluded. We’ll see if Campbell offers an update after the final preseason game. Otherwise, we may not hear for a while. Hopefully, given Detroit’s numerous injuries at safety, it’s nothing.
