The Detroit Lions are ready to rip the Band-Aid off with Cade Mays, and it appears as if they'll take the same approach with Brian Branch.
Lions coach Dan Campbell said Friday, Oct. 23, the Lions are "going to let [Branch] go" in his season debut Sunday, Oct. 25, against the Green Bay Packers.
Branch, a Pro Bowl player in 2024 and one of the most versatile safeties in football, has not played a game in more than 10 months since tearing his Achilles tendon in a win over the Dallas Cowboys last Dec. 4. He returned to practice Oct. 7.
"Yeah, we got a pretty good idea with him," Campbell said. "We're going to let him go here and we'll be smart, but he's ready to play.”
Campbell indicated in a radio interview this week that he planned to start Mays at center in his first action of the season this week.
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Mays broke his right wrist in training camp, returned to practice the same day as Branch and is set to come off injured reserve this week. Previously, Campbell had debated the idea of rotating Mays and his replacement, Juice Scruggs, at center.
"I think right now the plan − Juice has done a hell of a job for us and I’ve mentioned this before, I’m going to continue to say it, that was – thank goodness we got Juice, man," Campbell said in an interview on 97.1 The Ticket (WXYT-FM). "He’s been outstanding for us.
"That being said, we really worked the heck out of Cade yesterday, he got some quality reps and we would like to give him a go here and not make that move. And then obviously Juice is starting off swinging between center and guard, as needed at center and some guard. But yeah, we’d like to just rip this Band-Aid off of Cade. I thought he had some good work yesterday. I thought he looked pretty good."
Scruggs is the second-highest graded center in the NFL, according to Pro Football Focus. Campbell explained his reasoning for wanting to get Mays back in the lineup Friday.
"Well, look, we went and got Cade for a reason and there’s things we know that he brings to us mentally and physically, and he’s a little different player than Juice and Juice has done a really good job," Campbell said. "But this gets us starting to trend to who are our best five. And maybe it is this lineup here, but Juice will certainly be involved in all that as we move forward."
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: Detroit Lions unveil plan for Brian Branch in return to action