The Detroit Lions just had some crushing injury news come up, and will now be scrambling to come up with a backup plan.
It was announced Monday morning that center Cade Mays has a wrist injury that will keep him out for 8-10 weeks. Though head coach Dan Campbell wouldn’t commit to a set return date, following that timeline it’ll probably be some time in October.
It’s a major setback for a Detroit team who had made Mays its main free agent acquisition, signing him to a three-year $25 million deal this offseason. He was expected to be a significant upgrade over veteran Graham Glasgow from last season.
Beat reporter Jeremy Reisman said Monday that center Seth McLaughlin is taking the first-team reps up front for Detroit at today’s practice.
With Juice Scruggs still nursing a soft tissue injury for a few more days, Dan Campbell says Seth McLaughlin is likely to get first-team reps at center today.
— Jeremy Reisman (@DetroitOnLion) August 10, 2026
McLaughlin will be introducing himself to Lions fans this week
McLaughlin is a second-year center from Ohio State. He signed with the Cincinnati Bengals as an undrafted free agent last year. McLaughlin missed his rookie season recovering from a ruptured achilles he suffered in a November 2024 practice while in college.
In his lone year at Ohio State, McLaughlin won the Rimington Trophy as the nation’s most outstanding center. The Buckeyes won the national championship that season.
Before he transferred to Ohio State, McLaughlin played for Alabama. He became the starting center late in the 2021 season and held the job through the 2023 season. His final year in Tuscaloosa was infamous for several bad snaps, one against Auburn that season and three more in the Tide’s loss to Michigan in the College Football Playoff.
But his career rebounded in a big way at Ohio State before the achilles injury. He was rated a top undrafted free agent after signing with the Bengals but wasn’t able to make an impact on the field because of health.
Juice Scruggs has made 20 starts in his three-year NFL career so far and is likely the Lions’ preferred option at center. The offseason trade acquisition from Houston has been the backup center during training camp and also repped at guard.
But Scruggs reportedly has a soft-tissue injury right now, which could give McLaughlin a big opportunity.
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If McLaughlin can show he’s fully healthy and impress the coaching staff, he could make a push for the Lions’ starting center job until Mays comes back. Whoever it ends up being, the Lions cannot afford to have worse center play than they did in 2025.
Glasgow was rated as Pro Football Focus’ 33rd-best center out of 40 players last year. He struggled mightily, and it is a big part of what doomed the Lions to a 9-8 finish,
Detroit made an effort to acquire all the offensive line depth it could this offseason to give themselves options. Along with drafting Blake Miller in the first round and signing Mays, they brought in Scruggs, McLaughlin, guard Ben Bartch and tackle Larry Borom.
The Mays injury is a huge hit to the team’s line at this point in the season. But the Lions now have a chance to see what they have in McLaughlin. If he can help the team tread water up front until Mays returns, it could go a long way in determining what kind of start Detroit will get out to in 2026.
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