On Sunday, Darrell Bevell stepped onto a National Football League field for the first time as interim head coach of the Detroit Lions, and when all was said and done, he walked off the field with his first win.
A day later, Bevell spoke to the media and he was asked if he received a congratulatory call from Matt Patricia, who was fired by the Lions on the Saturday following Thanksgiving.
“I did not,” Bevell said.
Well, prior to Wednesday’s practice, Bevell spoke to the media again and he made sure to address Patricia, making sure to emphasize that they have a good relationship.
From Detroit Free Press:
“So I know you guys asked me the other day if I had heard from (Patricia) and if he texted me or called me, and it’s something I really didn’t expect from him,” Bevell said. “It’s just such a hard time when you go through that transition, and you’re out of the game. The first thing you want to do is you want to get away from everything, you want to spend as much time with your family as you can. I know that from experience because I was in that exact same situation. I just do want you to know that I have a great relationship with him.
“When all this is said and done, I have no doubts that we’ll great conversations, and we’ll talk a lot about all this time while we were here,” Bevell continued. “Again, I just can’t be more appreciative and grateful to him for the opportunity that he gave me.”
Something tells us that things were the other way around, Bevell would reach out to congratulate Patricia.
