The NFL is a revolving door of chaos and continuous motion. Players get extended and cut, coaches get extended and fired, and in the end, they end up playing and coaching all over the NFL. With all this movement, every once in a while things come full circle and players and coaches can reunite.
For former Detroit Lion player Darius Slay and former coach Matt Patricia that exact thing has happened in Philadelphia.
Patricia was the Lions coach from 2018 to 2020 during which time he and cornerback Darius Slay butted heads. The result for both of them was Slay being traded to the Eagles and Patricia ultimately being let go by the team and replaced by Dan Campbell.
Fast forward a couple of years, and today, Patricia has taken over as the team’s defensive play-caller, with Slay being one of the defense’s key pieces. Because of their past, Patricia was asked this week about being back with Slay.
He responded, “It’s really been awesome for me to be back around Slay and really have an unbelievable relationship. He’s a great guy. He’s super kind, super funny. He’s very determined. He’s everything that he is, and obviously so appreciative of him…”
Patricia discussed mending his relationship with Slay in the Summer before expanding on it, saying, “As you go through life, and you grow and you learn, and hopefully improve and get better as a person. From me personally, where I was, whenever that was, I’m just trying to be a better person every day and I’m just really thankful to him for that.”
The Eagles pass defense led by Darius Slay is ranked 15th in the league, but the move of bringing Patricia in to call defensive plays is hoped to raise that rank. The healed relationship between the two Lions should help make that possible.
