Ahead of the 2026 regular season kickoff, the Detroit Lions’ center position has already had a rough go from an injury standpoint.
Starter Cade Mays was lost for 2 months or more with a wrist fracture, and is on IR.
Juice Scruggs had a soft-tissue strain that kept him out for about 2 weeks in camp.
Seth McLaughlin was recently waived, likely related to a concussion.
That means an under-the-radar player like Mason Miller becomes increasingly important to the Lions, who signed him after the 2025 draft as an undrafted free agent (UDFA). In 2026, Miller played quite a bit in all preseason games and was “pretty dang clean” as the center in Game 3, according to Dan Campbell.
Here is the injury history and medical report for Mason Miller. For the full roster health overview, visit my Lions Injury Tracker.
Medical concern level ranges from 0 (🟢low) to 5 (🟡moderate) to 10 (🔴high).
(Ages in parentheses are at start of 2026 season and are factored into the concern level. Injury info and ages based on available public information and are unverified - subject to update. Games played data courtesy of gobison.com)
Mason Miller, OG/C (24)
🟢Medical Concern Level: 1/10
2024 (North Dakota State): Played 16/16 games.
2023: 15/15 games
2022: 10 games before season-ending right fibula fracture.
2021: 15/15 games
2020: 5 games
Miller had a fibula fracture in college, but was otherwise extremely reliable, having not missed a game in three full seasons. The fibula fracture is of very low concern at this point given two full years of proof-of-recovery in college. If the fracture was associated with other injuries like a high ankle sprain (see James Houston), then there would be more residual concern. It’s unknown if that was the case with Miller.
Lions fans saw Christian Mahogany miss only six games for a fibula fracture in 2025, so this is often a relatively minor injury.
Miller’s young age gives him room to grow and potentially become a long-term member of the team. He is currently on the Lions’ practice squad, but could get called up on gamedays to back up interim starter Juice Scruggs.