The Detroit Lions are only days away from opening the preseason portion of their schedule for the 2026 NFL season on Thursday against the Cincinnati Bengals at Paycor Stadium.
Unfortunately for the Lions, as is the harsh reality of a physical contact sport like football, they’re dealing with a myriad of injuries to key players, including center Cade Mays and running back Isiah Pacheco. Running back Sione Vaki is dealing with an eye injury and broken nose, while Kerby Joseph and Brian Branch remain on the PUP list.
However, the preseason will be an opportunity for younger players looking to crack Detroit’s roster for the upcoming season to show what they can do at the NFL level, and that’s where 2026 1st round selection Blake Miller comes into play.
Detroit Lions 2026 1st Round Draft Pick Blake Miller Will Play On Thursday Against The Bengals
According to head coach Dan Campbell, Miller will suit up and be available to play against the Bengals on Thursday.
“Lions can expect 1st round pick RT Blake Miller to play Thursday in Cincinnati in Detroit’s first preseason game,” wrote Lions beat writer Tim Twentyman on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Meanwhile, Campbell reiterated that top players like starting quarterback Jared Goff aren’t likely to see action on Thursday or during the preseason at all as so to avoid the further risk of injury.
“Yeah, we already have. I really don’t see playing a lot of our guys, we’ll play some of them. We’ll play some of our guys that are in these, we’ve got some competitions going on at spots, but you ask about Goff, I don’t see Goff playing,” said Campbell. “And we’ll kind of gauge it as we go here. I think more of mine are the questions will be coming next week, when we start getting into the Washington week, because that was kind of where I always targeted like, alright, this may be where we need to play our guys. That’ll be the first one is kind of where I was thinking.
The Lions selected Miller with the 17th overall pick in the Draft out of Clemson, where he started 54 consecutive games and set a school record with 3,778 career snaps from scrimmage.
He also made history as the first Clemson offensive lineman of the Common Draft era, dating back to 1967, to be selected in the first round of the NFL Draft.
The Lions and Bengals will kick-off from Paycor Stadium on Thursday beginning at 7:00 p.m. ET.
The Lions Lost Center Cade Mays For Several Weeks
Mays, whom the Lions signed from the Carolina Panthers to a three-year, $25 million deal, suffered a wrist injury that the club expects to sideline him for a significant period of time.
While the good news is that he’ll return at some point during the 2026 NFL season schedule, it won’t be any time soon.
“He will be back in the season at some point,” Campbell said. “It will be down the road.”
“It was protection. (He was getting rushed) and D-lineman made an arm-over move and chopped at it,” Campbell said of the injury. “One of those freak things.”
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