Tag: Detroit Lions

Lions Darius Slay on Pro Bowl, contract situation, Matt Patricia and more

ALLEN PARK — Darius Slay said it doesn’t get old being named to the Pro Bowl, even for the third time.

“I told my kids the other day we were going to DisneyWorld,  free too, we love that,’’ the Detroit Lions cornerback said on Wednesday.

Slay appreciates that he wasn’t in the top 10 of fan voting, but the players and coaches know his value so they put him over the top.

“Coaches watch film enough, players do as well. I appreciate the respect they gave me because I go out there and work hard. I compete at a high level,” Slay said.

Five more thoughts from Slay:

1. Slay, whose contract expires after the 2020 season, was much more open to talking about the Pro Bowl than his contract situation. He sat out the offseason workouts last spring aiming to get a new deal from the Lions without any results. Will he sit out again? It’s up to him and his agent but he didn’t have an answer ready. One thing is for certain, when he signs a new contract — no matter which team it’s with — Slay has his eye on a Rolls-Royce truck. He joked he might even have a driver bring him to practice on the first day. When asked what three-time Pro Bowl corners make, Slay had a short answer: “Hoo-hoo-hoo!”

2. Slay didn’t have much to say about the announcement on Tuesday that Matt Patricia will be back next season. “II thought it was already automatic,’’ Slay said. He added that the players don’t worry or talk about it. “Not really that’s their personal business. I just play. He could be up and gone, I could be up and gone.’’

3. The expectations from ownership next season are that the Lions are a playoff contender. Slay said he thought that was the goal of every team. “Some of us have been here with Patricia for two years going on three, we’ve got a better understanding of him as a coach and his program that’s basically where we’re at,’’ Slay said.

4. The cornerback said the key to improving is finishing and he puts that on the players not the coaches. “We’ve been in there every game, fourth quarter get in there, don’t finish. Definitely on the defensive end we have to finish,’’ Slay said. “Coaches doing a good job putting us in the predicaments at practice, we’ve just got to execute as players. I’m mean we’re out there. They tell us the play, obviously it’s mostly on us, it’s a team effort. As a player and me personally I take it to the chest, I feel like it’s out on the field, so we’re the ones who could fix it.’’

5. Slay was wearing a chain with a pendant photo of his grandmother. “My baby, my heart and she raised me. Yes, it’s so nice, it’s my angel,’’ Slay said.

Lions’ Matt Patricia forges on; focuses on final 2 games not his future in Detroit

ALLEN PARK — Matt Patricia is focused on the Lions’ final two games this season more than his immediate future.

With the Lions at 3-10-1, there is no guarantee the coach will return for a third season.

“For me, one of the things that you realize pretty quick when you get in the game of football – college, NFL, it doesn’t really matter what it is – coaching is a tough profession. Playing is a tough profession. It’s a mindset that you probably just develop early on,’’ Patricia said on Monday following the 38-17 loss to the Bucs on Sunday.

“When I was in other places and worked at other places, part of the thing that just makes me, me, is that I go into work every single day trying to earn my job that day. I would go in and make sure that my key card worked, and I was in the building and I was OK,’’ he added.

Patricia, who often spends the night at the Lions facility, even showed a little sense of humor in his reply.

“It’s most of the reason why I don’t leave the building because they’re going to have to throw me out, like I’ve said before,’’ Patricia said. “From that aspect of it, that’s all you can control is just your effort that day and your drive that day to be better as a player, as a coach, as a team, and that’s all I really worry about.”

He was seen talking at length on the sideline prior to Sunday’s game to owner Martha Firestone Ford and her daughter Sheila Ford Hemp but he never discloses the content of their discussions. If he knows his future with the team, he is not saying.

 “I just expect to be here every day until they tell me not to. Hopefully, that’ll be a long time,’’ Patricia said.

The Lions went 6-10 in his first season and have fallen on hard times this season. They’ve been hit with a ton of injuries. When they placed Kenny Wiggins and Mike Daniels on injured reserve on Monday they joined a dozen other teammates in that classification.

Despite seven straight losses, Patricia always emphasizes that the team continues to fight. The toughness and competitive spirit of the players is a foundation for building a perennial winner.

 “I think that’s where you need to start, and I would say that’s where we’re at right now,’’ Patricia said. “We obviously need to add some pieces, and we need to get better, and we need to improve, and hopefully stay a little bit more healthy than where we’re at right now. I think those things will build on top of each other from there.”

The Lions play at the Denver Broncos (5-9) on Sunday and then wrap up the season against the Green Bay Packers (11-3) at Ford Field on Sunday, Dec. 29.

Five reasons the Lions lost to the Bucs; extend losing streak to 7 games

DETROIT — Matt Patricia’s survival as coach of the Detroit Lions may be in more peril after Sunday. The Lions’ defense made quarterback Jameis Winston look like a Hall of Famer in waiting, in Tampa Bay’s 38-17 win at Ford Field.

It was the seventh straight loss for the Lions who drop to 3-10-1.

“I think the one thing that’s consistent, the team fights, they work hard, really regardless of who’s out there,’’ coach Matt Patricia said.

Is that enough? Apparently not, but wide receiver Danny Amendola agrees with Patricia.

“We got a lot of guys who are beat up, banged up and injured and we got guys rolling in, next man up, trying to step up, trying to make plays. Everyone here is trying their best, everybody is fighting,’’ Amendola said. “I love how everyone comes to work, I love how we fight on game day and whatever the situation may be, we are going to get out there and fight for our brothers. So that is what I love about this team.”

He said they have to find an edge.

“We have to believe, we have to roll into each game thinking we are going to win,’’ Amendola said. 

They have two games left this season to figure it out.

Five reasons the Lions lost:

1. Winston had a monstrous day thanks to Detroit’s defense which was beat again and again and again on deep crossing patterns. Winston was 28 of 42 for 458 yards, four touchdowns and one interception. Darius Slay dropped what could’ve been an interception. Detroit’s secondary just plain got beat time after time. On Breshad Perriman’s first touchdown (for 34 yards) cornerback Rashaan Melvin was about 5 yards behind the play. Trey Flowers muffed on a sack. Overall the Lions’ defense didn’t look prepared. One highlight was Jahlani Tavai’s first interception, but the Lions offense could not score afterward.

2. The Lions fought back in the second half. Down by just a touchdown (24-17) with five minutes left, Detroit’s offense had the ball but quarterback David Blough’s pass intended for Danny Amendola was intercepted by Sean Murphy-Binding and returned 70 yards for a touchdown. “Can’t do it. Obviously it’s the play that will come back, we’ll look at as ultimately the dagger in the game. Danny ran a good route I left it a little behind him, the guy made a good play and went the other way with it,’’ Blough said. “You can’t do it playing quarterback in this league you have to value the football first and foremost. It’s frustrating it happened there after the guys fought so hard to battle back. I’ll take it it’s on me, it’s frustrating.’’ Blough was 24 of 43 for 260 yards, no touchdowns and two interceptions.

3. The bad start was a killer. The Lions were down by three touchdowns with 8:13 left in the second quarter. “The slow start was not really what we want to do against an explosive team like this,’’ Patricia said. “Obviously, detrimental. They can score extremely fast, they’re a very aggressive defense, they have good players on both sides of the ball you have to do a better job to start the game.’’ The defense gave up three first-half touchdowns and the offense was stuck in neutral. At the end of the first quarter the Lions’ offense had 1 net yard (the Bucs had 236). At halftime it was up to 56 yards. 

4. The fourth quarter was a disaster again. This season the Lions have been outscored 122-84 in the final stanza — it’s on the offense for not getting it done and the defense for letting the opponent march down the field. Again on Sunday they were outscored 14-7 in the fourth. Patricia said it is not a result of conditioning. “I don’t think you ever want to put frustration into words because it never comes out right, so I would say for us we understand, we just look at it from the standpoint of why, what are we doing and how do we improve it,’’ Patricia said. He did not offer any more specifics.

5. Injuries have really hit the Lions hard, especially in the last few weeks. Within the last seven days they’ve put four players on injured reserve (Da’Shawn Hand, Marv Jones Jr., Jarrad Davis and Joe Dahl). Wes Hills, the starting running back on Sunday (replacing the injured Bo Scarbrough), was playing in his first NFL game. He had a slow start, but finished with two rushing touchdowns becoming just the third Lions player to rush for two touchdowns in his first career game, along with Jahvid Best (2010) and Billy Sims (1980). Ten Lions who started in Week One were not available on Sunday (that includes Quandre Diggs who was traded). The others were injured or on injured reserve. That’s a ton.

BONUS: Bucs wide receiver Breshad Perriman finished with three receiving touchdowns — he had two in the first 11 games. He’s just another opponent that the Lions’ defense made look like a Pro Bowl player. He had five catches for 113 yards. Curiously enough, Breshad’s dad, Brett, played for the Lions for six years (1991-96) and never had a three-touchdown game.

NEXT UP: The Lions play at Denver at 4 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 22. The Broncos (5-9) lost 23-3 to the Chiefs on Sunday.