Getty Matt Patricia gestures in a game.
Matt Patricia’s coaching of the Detroit Lions has come into question in recent years not only due to the team’s performance on the field, but what’s happened in the locker room as well.
Is there a problem with where things stand in terms of players buying in for their coach? It might seem like the case to some, but according to Bob Quinn, that’s not the case whatsoever. Speaking during the lead into the NFL Draft, Quinn was asked if there is a confidence problem in the boss with the team.
As he said, there isn’t any of that to speak of, and the Lions are completely behind their coach.
The question comes on the heels of Detroit’s well-publicized split with cornerback Darius Slay, who expressed some frustration with how things were being run by the team’s coach. Additionally, the Lions also traded safety Quandre Diggs, and he had been vocal in the past about how things were operating in the locker room.
As Quinn said, though, the team has seen no issue with this during the offseason, given players have been very content to sign with the team in free agency. It might have been an issue in the past, but Quinn seems to think that everyone is pulling in the same direction for their coach.
Safe to say the Lions will need this to be reality in a big way this year.
Shannon Sharpe Thinks Matt Patricia Must Change Approach
Hall of Fame tight end and Fox Sports pundit Shannon Sharpe doesn’t think Patricia handled things properly with his top player at all, and doesn’t think he is running the Detroit Lions properly. Recently, while debating Skip Bayless on Undisputed, Sharpe explained that in his mind, Patricia was severely in the wrong when it came to how he handled Slay.
.@ShannonSharpe on Darius Slay ‘losing respect’ for Matt Patricia based on how he addresses his players:
“Matt Patricia, you need to understand you can’t do that, because you’re not Coach Belichick.”
“Why would you go there and immediately try to tear the guy down? Because that’s an ego trip. It’s my show now,” Sharpe said. “This is the same Matt Patricia that over the last 2 years has kept his job and has as many wins as Jim Caldwell had that he got fired for. He won 9 games in 2 years, Jim Caldwell got fired for being 9-7. A year before, he made the playoffs.”
As Sharpe explained, he believes Patricia should have taken a softer tone with Slay, and instead of coming at him harshly, should have tried to build him up instead of break him down. He relayed a story from his time with Mike Shanahan in Denver where the coach asked him to become a better blocker to take his whole game to the next level.
“Guys don’t care what you did in New England. Can you help me get better? By beating me down, it’s not helping me get better. It’s going to make me despise you and tune you out and not listen to anything you say,” he said.
As a whole, Sharpe explained that it’s on Patricia to change how he interacts with players moving forward so that these issues don’t continue to persist.
“I don’t know where these guys think they can come in and just talk. Matt Patricia, you need to understand. Now I know how Coach Belichick, he treats everyone the same. You can’t do that. You’re not Coach Belichick,” he explained.
We’ll have to see if Patricia changes his style, or if the dustup with Slay was merely one thing which happened and an isolated incident. It hasn’t seemed to change the team’s confidence in the coach.
Matt Patricia’s Lions Tenure
Patricia came to the Lions fresh off success in New England in 2018, and struggled out of the gate to capture the attention of the locker room. A bumpy start paved the way to a more solid finish in 2018 with the team only winning six games, but defeating squads like the New England Patriots, Green Bay Packers and Carolina Panthers, which offered hope.
Patricia has helped the Lions stay in games for the most part in 2019, something which the team struggled with in 2018, but has not gotten them over the hump at closing. That’s perhaps his biggest wart so far as a boss, combined with a lousy defense that has not picked up the program whatsoever. Patricia might get more of a pass considering the absurd amount of injuries he’s dealt with, but it’s hard to ignore that in his tenure as coach, the Lions have had the same discipline problems plague them that always have through the years.
The bet was that both Patricia and Quinn get a mulligan on 2019 considering the rash of injuries that have set the team back, while also living with the understanding that 2020 is likely the make or break year for this group.
It might not be what Lions fans wanted to hear, but it always seemed like the likely outcome. Obviously, Patricia will have to win, but it doesn’t seem as if he will be facing roadblocks from within the locker room in order to do so.
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