ALLEN PARK >> Veteran Lions safety Glover Quin is working with his fourth head coach and fifth different defensive coordinator as he enters his tenth NFL season.
“It’s part of the game. You go out put in the work, buy in. It is what it is. I’ve told you guys this since I’ve been here I’m just a player, all I do is play I let the coaches coach, I let the managers manages, I let the presidents be presidents, I let the trainers train,’’ Quin said on Friday.
Quin, who missed most of the Lions’ offseason work for personal reasons, was back for the first day of Lions’ training camp on Friday under new head coach Matt Patricia.
“He’s a great football player and has an unbelievable skill set and a is very smart football player. So, it’s exciting to have him here with the team. I think he’s a guy very similar in that room — talking position-specific like Tavon Wilson or guys from that accord and the back end — (Quandre) Diggs, guys that have to do a lot of communication out on the field. It’s going to be great to have that out there so we’re excited to get going from that aspect,’’ Patricia said on Friday.
Five thoughts from Quin on the first day of camp:
1. The defense is adjusting to new coaches as well as a new system. “The biggest challenge is just coming together, communicating. I think the thing about defense is you’ve got to know what you’re doing so well that you don’t have to think about it and you can focus on what the offense is doing. I think some of the times people get caught up worrying about their job and you miss little small clues that the offense gives you as to what they’re doing,’’ Quin said. “We have to put the work in to know what we’re doing at such a high level to where we make a call and we don’t even have to think about it we already know exactly what we’ve got and we can spend all our time focusing on what the offense is trying to do, how they’re trying to attack us, who are they putting in, who they’re putting in different formations, different personnel to try to sneak a guy in and get him out in a route or something like that.’’
2. Patricia was most recently the defensive coordinator for the Patriots which obviously means that the defensive part of the game is his strength. “He’s very smart, very detailed about it. Very intense with it, hopefully we go out and show that on Sundays how his influence is on us defensively and his system, the things he teaches to us hopefully everybody will get to see that at a high level on Sundays,’’ Quin said.
3. “It’s kind of like the first day of school. You’ve been out for the summer. On the first day of school everybody is super excited to be back, super excited to see everybody, super excited to get back to work. That’s always the fun part, the exciting part,’’ Quin said. “But it’s about every day — are you going to have that same excitement come Week 5, come day 5, Day 6. When you get in the dog days of camp will you have that same excitement to come out here every day and get better?’’ That’s the big question.
4. The Lions’ practice facility has undergone a few changes for training camp with more tents and seating for fans, along with food trucks and activities. Just a few changes for camp that has evolved as being more and more fan friendly over recent years. “Honestly, I feel like training camp has been like this my whole career. When I first got drafted I was in Houston, we’d go to practice and there were a ton of people and a ton of tents. A good tough practice in the morning just like this. It was kind of the same. I came here the last few years it’s the same thing — tents and sponsors. For me training camp has been the same throughout my whole career. Fun as it could be and just work.’’
5. Quin doesn’t necessarily feel that Patricia’s eyes are on him because of the coach’s defensive background. “I always feel like eyes are on me, that’s the way I am. I feel like somebody’s always watching me,’’ Quin said.
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