Allen Park — The initial reviews of Cade Mays’ season debut were mixed.
The Detroit Lions center, signed as a free agent this offseason, had spent more than two months on the shelf after breaking a sesamoid bone in his right wrist, requiring surgical repair.
With that long of a layoff, there’s a natural accumulation of rust. Mays acknowledged in the locker room after the game that he spent the better part of the opening quarter of Sunday’s matchup with Green Bay getting his wind and getting his legs back under him.
Dan Campbell and Jared Goff had positive commentary to offer on Mays’ outing, but fans were more critical after the victory over the Packers.
With offensive linemen, a small handful of snaps can quickly alter perceptions, typically because their worst moments get replayed a half-dozen times. And against the Packers, Mays had three negative moments that linger.
First, there was a botched snap between he and Goff on the opening drive of the second half, which the Packers recovered. There was no clear evidence to assign blame, with both the center and QB pointing fingers at themselves after the contest.
Additionally, Mays allowed pushback into the pocket on a shotgun snap where Goff had the ball knocked free by the defender. The Lions recovered that one, but it still goes in the book as a sack.
Finally, on a third fumble, which running back Jahmyr Gibbs coughed up in the red zone at the end of the second quarter, Mays unintentionally collided with his teammate, jarring the ball loose.
We’ll come back to that one, but those three plays, combined with the Packers racking up a number of tackles for loss in the backfield, gave many the impression that Mays had a rough day.
But did he? What about the other 65 snaps? And how much of the ones mentioned above were on the snapper?
So much of that can be difficult to diagnose in real time, from the broadcast’s perspective. So I’ve gone through every snap from the end zone angle of the game film to better assess what went well for Mays, as well as some things he’ll be looking to clean up going forward.
Let’s explore the tape together.