A week after he was benched for a violation of team rules, Christian Mahogany is slated to be back at left guard when the Lions take the field Sunday in Germany against the Patriots.
Mahogany apologized to the team Wednesday morning for his misstep and was back with the first-team offense that afternoon at practice. Juice Scruggs will remain at center in place of Cade Mays, who's likely to miss a second straight game with an ankle injury.
Neither Mahogany nor Dan Campbell revealed the nature of the violation, but Campbell said Tuesday that when a rule is "broken multiple times, then you do something about it." Mahogany's first infraction came at the start of training camp when he was briefly placed on the Non-Football Injury list for an issue that was believed to be related to his conditioning.
Mahogany spoke with reporters Wednesday in the Lions' locker room and said that if Campbell isn't going to disclose what happened last week, "I’m not going to either. I’m not going to disobey him. It sucks what happened, but I have to grow up and I have to stop breaking team rules. It is what it is. I let my teammates down, I let my organization down and it won’t ever happen again."
Campbell's four team rules are 1) Don’t be late 2) Keep your weight in check 3) Don’t disrespect your teammates and 4) Don’t disrespect the game.
Mahogany said that he apologized to his teammates, the offensive line, offensive line coach Hank Fraley and offensive coordinator Drew Petzing.
Mahogany had been playing well for the Lions since returning from an early-season injury, helping to stabilize the interior of the offensive line. His absence was especially costly in the first half of their 19-9 win over the Dolphins when his replacement Miles Frazier was beaten numerous times.
When Mahogany found out last week that he'd be on the bench in Miami, "You just gotta eat it on the chin," he said. "That’s who I am. I’m not a person that’s gonna sulk. It sucked not being out there, because I let my teammates down. I don’t want to do that, I did, and that’s on me."
Mahogany also had lots of family and friends at the game who came to see him play. His college head coach, Jeff Hafley, was the head coach on the other sideline.
"It’s not about me anymore," said Mahogany. "I love Hafley, but I don’t really care about that. My family knew already, so it wasn’t a surprise. We won the game. That’s the most important thing. Im on to New England, I’m ready to go."
Mahogany, 26, could be playing for his future in Detroit over the rest of this season. Campbell and the Lions only have so much patience for off-field issues with on-field consequences, and Mahogany is the most replaceable member of the starting offensive line. He needs to be on-point over Detroit's final nine games to ensure that he's back next season in the final year of his rookie deal.
"It’s just who you have to be, that’s all it is," he said. "I’m gonna have to be the same person every day."
Asked if getting benched is a wake-up call, Mahogany said, "It always is, so I’m glad it happened now, for myself."
Discussing his strong play a few weeks ago, Mahogany attributed his rise this season to a deeper dedication to his teammates: "It's just, I look to my left, I look to my right, I know these guys, and I can’t let them down. And I sense that more maybe this year rather than last year. I think I’ve taken it more personally in that regard, especially because the guy to my left takes everything so methodical, so important to him, and I’m held to that standard."
The guy to his left is Penei Sewell, one of the Lions' co-captains and arguably the best offensive tackle in the NFL. Mahogany spoke with Sewell after his violation and said, "We don’t have any bad blood. We’re not people that hold grudges. We can’t be." Sewell said that Mahogany "knows what he did, and obviously that’s between him and coach."
It's back to "business as usual" on the offensive line, said Sewell.
