Lions Face Roster Dilemmas as Branch, Mays Return

Brian Branch and Cade Mays will suit up for the Detroit Lions against the Green Bay Packers this week. The real question is how head coach Dan Campbell plans to fit two players back into starting roles occupied by others who have performed well in their absence.

Campbell told reporters Tuesday that both players are expected to play “barring anything negatively happening between now and the game.” He shifted the team’s practice schedule forward one day specifically to test their conditioning before a scheduled day off Wednesday.

Branch has not played since tearing his Achilles tendon last December during a win over the Dallas Cowboys. His activation from the physically unable to perform list comes at a critical moment. Detroit has cycled through four different safeties this season following Avonte Maddox’s broken foot in Week 2 against the Buffalo Bills, an injury that ended his year. Chuck Clark opened the season alongside Maddox. Christian Izien replaced Maddox in Weeks 3 and 4. Rookie cornerback Keith Abney took over in Week 5, playing primarily as the deep safety against the Arizona Cardinals.

Campbell cautioned it would “be asking a lot” to expect Branch to handle 70 snaps in his first game action in more than 10 months. “But we do feel like he can handle quite a bit here,” he said, according to the Detroit Free Press.

The situation on the offensive line presents a different kind of problem. Detroit signed Mays in March to be its starting center. He broke his wrist in training camp and landed on injured reserve. Juice Scruggs stepped in and started every game since. Through five weeks, Pro Football Focus graded Scruggs as the top center in the NFL.

Scruggs’ performance leaves Campbell managing a surplus rather than a deficit. “That’s the hard thing,” Campbell said. “Juice is playing pretty good football for us right now.”

Campbell previously indicated Scruggs would compete with Christian Mahogany for the starting left guard job once Mays returned. Mahogany has also played well on a unit ranked among the league’s best. Now, Campbell suggested the Lions might rotate Mays and Scruggs at center during the game, or use Scruggs elsewhere as a sixth lineman.

“In the center position, that’s where it’s a little different than a guard, somebody who’s constantly touching the football,” Campbell said.

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.