The Detroit Lions didn’t exactly inspire confidence in their fan base following a lackluster 1-3 record in the 2018 pre-season. However, first year head coach Matt Patricia isn’t worried about it, and is anxious to get the real schedule underway.
During Wednesday’s press conference at Allen Park, Patricia took to the podium and began rattling off everything from his team’s preparation to his thoughts on their week one opponent, the New York Jets.
Obviously a big week for us here,” he said. “We have to get ready for the Jets. That’s what we’re solely focused on here right now. That’s where all of our attention is getting into our first kind of, what we call ‘Regular Season Wednesday.’ So, we’re working on specific areas of the game plan here for our upcoming opponent. Obviously got a big challenge ahead of us on all three phases.”
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The fans in Detroit can be excused if they’re hesitant to go all-in on this new era of Lions football under a new head coach. They’ve seen the disappointment that came under Steve Mariucci, Rod Marinelli, Jim Schwartz, and Jim Caldwell. But Patricia isn’t looking at the past.
“I’m pretty fired up every day,” he said. “Sometimes I come in here (to the media room) and you guys suck the life out of me. But other than that, I’m pretty good because you guys aren’t really excited when I walk in here. I’m not going to let you guys do that to me today because we’re going out there and we’re getting ready to go win.”
“Like I said a long time ago, my 12-year-old self is probably freaking out somewhere,” he continued. “But I have to just try to do a good job here of focusing on what I have to do today.”
The Lions open the regular season at Ford Field on Monday Night Football against the Jets on September 10.
