Matt Patricia’s head coaching debut left a lot to be desired, to put it mildly. The 43-year-old suffered the largest margin of defeat for a Lions coach in his debut game in 17 years. His Lions got trounced by the Jets and a 21-year-old quarterback by a score of 48-17 at home, 31 of those points were scored in a laughable third quarter. Not a good look for a defensive guru in his first showing outside of Bill Belichick’s shadow.
*record scratch*
[freeze frame]
Yep, that’s me, Matt Patricia. You’re probably wondering how I ended up in this situation… pic.twitter.com/sP02jQc5do
— Fanly Gridiron 🏈 (@FanlyGridiron) September 11, 2018
It’s important to remember that this was just one game, and it’s a process to transform a franchise that’s had just one playoff win since 1957. But, according to a report by Mike Garafolo of NFL Network, the culture Patricia brought over from New England is not sitting well with the players.
“Matt Patricia went really hard on these guys in camp. There was a lot of contact there. There’s a lot of harsh criticism, from what I’m told,” Garafolo said. “There’s not a lot of, ‘Hey, good job!’ There’s a lot of, ‘Hey, bad job, bleep, bleep, bleep.’”
Patricia has also implemented a bunch of new team rules, one of which is that players are forbidden from taken photos inside the locker room and posting them on social media. This is a rule from the Belichick regime and I presume it’s a lot easier to enforce when you’re armed with five Super Bowl victories.
“Matt Patricia is trying to establish some kind of culture there, and the veterans are not very happy,” Garafolo said.
In Patricia’s defense, he has a history of bouncing back from bad losses. Just last year, his Patriots defense got manhandled in Week 1 against the Chiefs. Kareem Hunt had 243 yards from scrimmage and three touchdowns while Alex Smith threw for 368 yards and four touchdowns en route to a 42-27 stomping. If I can recall, the Patriots ended up okay. Kind of.
[h/t Larry Brown Sports]