Tag: New England Patriots

Justin Coleman reunites with high school buddies Darius Slay, Tracy Walker

Slot corner signed 4-year, $36 million deal with Lions

 

ALLEN PARK — Justin Coleman has cleared up the biggest mystery since he was rumored earlier this week to be signing as a free agent with the Detroit Lions.

Detroit cornerback Darius Slay claims he and Coleman are cousins.

Slay, Coleman and Lions safety Tracy Walker are all from Brunswick, Ga., and all went to the same high school there, but Coleman said they are not blood relatives.

“Man, the city where we’re from everybody are cousins. We’re not blood-related but we definitely are close, we grew up together,’’ Coleman said at his introductory press conference on Thursday at the Lions headquarters.

Slay and Coleman played for a few years together in high school. At age 24, Walker is younger and is indeed blood relatives with Slay.

“It was great playing with (Slay), we never knew that we were both going to get to this point. In high school he was one of the best players on the field, he kind of motivated me to get on the field and play a lot more,’’ Coleman said. “He kind of helped me along the way being the leader that he is. I tried to compete with him so I could get better myself and it helped me to get further along the way.’’

Slay, 28, was drafted by the Lions in the second round in 2013, while Coleman was undrafted but played in 10 games with two starts for the Patriots as a rookie in 2015. He also played for Matt Patricia in New England in 2016 before moving to the Seahawks for the 2017 and 2018 seasons.

“It was definitely a dream that we would come together at some point. I definitely looked up to (Slay) as a young kid to get to where he was going because I knew he was going to do something big with his life. Step by step, he led the way and we just grew up real close together, that allowed us to compete and get to this point,’’ said Coleman who turns 26 on March 27.

Coleman said he didn’t talk to Slay before he signed his four-year, $36 million ($19 million guaranteed) contract with the Lions.

But he’s heard from him since then. Slay told him, “Man, I’m so happy man, I told them they need to pay you.’’

Coleman ranks as the highest paid slot corner in the NFL, but that doesn’t seem to mean much to him.

“I kind of consider myself just another player coming to help the team. The money doesn’t matter. Of course it matters off the field — it helps my family out and helps the people close to me — but I just came here to help the team win and get to where we need to be,’’ Coleman said.

He would not be specific about how Patricia used him in New England’s defense instead saying he’s just happy to have the opportunity in Detroit.

His best traits?

“I feel like I give a lot of effort when it comes to finishing plays and just getting involved. That’s pretty much how I got here — a lot of effort, a lot of hard work,’’ Coleman said. “I’m not the biggest or the strongest or the fastest, but I can put myself in position to make it seem that way.’’

Trey Flowers arrives in Detroit, discusses his connection with Matt Patricia

DE spent last 3 seasons with New England Patriots

ALLEN PARK — Trey Flowers’ 6-year-old daughter Skyler has attended three Super Bowls. She might be kind of spoiled when it comes to her daddy playing for a winning NFL team.

The Detroit Lions newest defensive end, who spent the last four seasons with the New England Patriots, tried to explain to her why he signed with the Lions as a free agent. 

“I kind of hinted it to her what if Daddy is a Lion? Do you like Lions?’’ Flowers said.

It’s not an easy conversation with a 6-year-old.

“Her favorite color is blue. (I told her) they’ve got blue, your favorite color. She said, ‘Oh OK, I get it.’ It’s just things like that, bringing your family along that’s very important for me,’’ Flower said at an introductory press conference on Thursday.

He mentioned that she may be able to have more McDonald’s too — his contract is worth $90 million over five years with $56 million guaranteed.

Flowers is one of three former Patriots who signed with Detroit this week. Not a surprise with GM Bob Quinn and coach Matt Patricia’s ties to New England. They also signed slot corner Justin Coleman and wide receiver Danny Amendola.

Flowers, who is 25, was at least in part attracted to the Lions because he had played for Patricia. He was a fourth-round pick by the Patriots in the 2015 draft.

“Definitely the familiarity was there, he kind of taught me a lot of things …’’ Flowers said. “He’s just a great guy to work for, obviously he demands a high standard of excellence from his players. When you get somebody who can challenge like that, day in and day out for the team to get better those are the type of guys you want to play for.’’

No one thinks Flowers is overpaid — he was the top free agent edge rusher available.

He’s versatile — can play any spot on the line — and will be a good fit on a line along with Snacks Harrison, A’Shawn Robinson and Da’Shawn Hand. 

“I think it’s just me understanding that wherever I am on the field, I want to be productive and if it’s a foreign position to me I’m going to work hard at it. I’m going to work after practice, I’m going to put in the time, energy and effort to kind of get great at it,’’ Flowers said. “I think just precision and detail, attention to detail with fundamentals and technique and understanding different guys along the line knowing you can’t play the tackles as same as you play guards. Film study helps better understand the game and understand what I’m doing is something I can take advantage of.’’

The words echo Patricia’s philosophy.

Flowers didn’t want to get into specifics about which teams were most interested in signing him.

He said he has no big plans to spend his newfound money except for maybe helping out his folks.

Flowers also has a 3-month-old daughter, Shylo. The question is when will she see her Daddy play in a Super Bowl wearing a Lions uniform?

After 5 games, Lions have identity crisis

They face Dolphins at Miami on Sunday

ALLEN PARK >> Five games into the season, the Lions have an identity crisis.

“It’s not about who I think we are, it’s about how we play that week,’’ safety Glover Quin said on Wednesday. “Do we play like the team that beat the Patriots because obviously we can do that. Or do we play like the team that lost to the Jets, obviously we can do that too. It’s not about who do I think we are, it’s about how do we go out and play each and every week.’’

OK, then. That brings up this week. Coming off the bye the Lions are 2-3 and play at Miami (4-2).

The Dolphins are 3-0 at home while the Lions are 0-2 on the road. Add in the factor that temps are expected to reach 87 on Sunday.

Also, the Lions are coming off their bye week so need to rev up and get back into the groove. That win against the Packers on Oct. 7 could have started a roll, but the brakes were put on due to the early bye week.

“It’s not really a concern. It’s something we have to go out and get back to playing football. We should be fresher, bodies should feel pretty good, we’ve had a week off,’’ Quin said.

The Lions veteran safety said it’s a good to be playing on the road because it’s easier to communicate defensively because the home crowd is quiet while their offense is on the field.

“You can hear — talk and communicate and make sure everybody is on the same page and we should be good,’’ Quin said.

Consistency is the key moving forward.

“If we get smacked, we’re probably the team that showed up against the Jets, if we dominate we’re the team that showed up against the Patriots and the Packers,’’ Quin said. “It’s about being consistent and not having that up and down — this week we were good, next week we were bad. We have to lock in and say we’re going to be good.’’

After five games with new head coach Matt Patricia, Quin seems fairly confident.

“The longer you play together, get to know each other better, it’s a new scheme for us, so we learn new things within the scheme, new things we can do, you get more comfortable,’’ Quin said. “When you first come out I mean everything is new you’re going into battle with a new head coach, new position coaches for the most part, everything is kind of new, sometimes it takes a feeling-out period, sometimes it don’t.’’

If the Lions are going to turn around the season, time is getting short.

Quin knows it is not too late because he has been through this before when he was in Houston in 2011.

“I think we started out 2-3 or something like that, 3-3, and we ended up winning seven games in a row and clinched at 10-3, the division,’’ Quin said. “It’s all about going out and playing at a high level and winning games, once you win you stack them and stack them and go on a run.’’

Sunday’s game against the Dolphins is certainly not a must-win, but it will help define this Lions team. Good or bad.