There is a widely held perception that the Bob Quinn/Matt Patricia Lions are doing everything they can to recreate the New England Patriots in Detroit. Both the GM and head coach are directly from the Patriots, and they have imported several players and coaches from the Bill Belichick tree in New England.
Yet coach Patricia doesn’t see it so much of trying to recreate the Patriots in Detroit. He acknowledges their influence but sees it more of trying to create a Lions culture.
When asked about the permeation of Patriots influence in Detroit prior to the first joint practice session on Monday, Patricia quickly highlighted several prominent players brought in with no ties to New England.
“It’s always good when you bring guys in that you’re familiar with and kind of already have a background from that standpoint,” Patricia explained. “They understand what for me as a head coach, what I expect and what we’re trying to do. The culture here is strictly Lions culture. We’re trying to build our own culture here, and we’re just trying to bring in the right guys.
Doesn’t matter if it’s Jesse James or Justin Coleman, who spent time at Seattle in a totally different system or Oday Aboushi. All those guys are brought in from a veteran stand point to help us get better – Mike Daniels is another guy. Just trying to bring in the guys that we think are going to understand what we’re trying to do and get on board and go in that direction. For us it’s about building the Lions.”
Patricia could have also highlighted Romeo Okwara, Devon Kennard and Andrew Adams — all ex-Giants he’s brought in since taking over last season.
