It has been a rough couple of days (at least in the media) for Detroit Lions head coach Matt Patricia after former Lions CB Darius Slay called him out for disrespecting him in front of the entire team.
In a piece recently published by Touchdown Wire, Mark Schofield wrote that Patricia is closing in on becoming the “Worst Bill Belichick Disciple.”
From Touchdown Wire:
We have a late challenger for the “Worst Bill Belichick Disciple Award.”
It looked like Bill O’Brien might have locked that up, with his trade of DeAndre Hopkins to the Arizona Cardinals. But Matt Patricia is making a late charge down the stretch to steal that title at the wire.
First the Detroit Lions went out and acquired offensive lineman Halapoulivaati Vaitai, giving him a five-year, $45 million dollar contract. Vaitai has shown flashes and is very stout in the run game, but they might need to give him some help, whether by alignment or formation or with running back/tight end chips, in the passing game should he line up at tackle next season.
Then they signed a handful of ex-Patriots, including Jamie Collins, the linebacker who has been at his best when in New England, but not so solid outside of Foxborough. Sure, Patricia probably knows how to use him, but another sign of concern is that most of Collins’s production last season came early in the year. Something to watch for, especially given the three-year, $30 million dollar contract. You can add to that list of ex-Patriots Danny Shelton and Duron Harmon, acquired via a trade.
They also signed cornerback Desmond Trufant, giving him a two-year, $21 million dollar contact. Trufant allowed a passer rating of 106.3 last season when targeted, giving up 17 yards per reception. 23 of the 34 targets thrown in his direction were receptions.
Detroit also traded away Darius Slay, sending him to the Philadelphia Eagles. Now it is true, Slay struggled a bit last season and Patricia’s more press-man philosophy might not have been the best situation for him, but Slay made no qualms about his desire to get out of town.
Finally, Patricia himself has come under fire, given Slay’s desire to leave Detroit and other commentary from former players. Slay himself said that his relationship with Patricia was “rough” and that the coach told him he was not a leader, and that he had no business working out with players like Aqib Talib and Richard Sherman because those players are elite, and Slay is just “good.”
Again, that gap between O’Brien and Patricia is closing fast.
We are not exactly sure why Schofield is blaming all of the Lions free agent signings on Matt Patricia rather than GM Bob Quinn, but his argument that Patricia may just be the worst Belichick disciple may not be a stretch.
Nation, what do you think?
