NFL Rumors: Why Lions’ Veterans Are ‘Not Very Happy’ With Matt Patricia

First-time head coaches struggled in Week 1 of the NFL season, but Matt Patricia had the roughest go of it.
The Detroit Lions looked awful in Patricia’s head-coaching debut, as they suffered a 31-point loss to the New York Jets at home on “Monday Night Football.” Expectations for Patricia were fairly high coming off the heels of his 14 seasons on the New England Patriots coaching staff.
But apparently the coaching tactics Patricia learned in New England aren’t being well received in Detroit.
“Up there in Detroit, Matt Patricia went really hard on these guys in camp,” NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo said Tuesday on “Good Morning Football.
“There was a lot of contact there.
There’s a lot of harsh criticism from what I am told.
There’s not a lot of ‘Hey, good job,’ there’s a lot of ‘Hey, bad job, bleepity bleepity bleepity bleep.’ “Matt Patricia is trying to establish some kind of a culture there, and the veterans are not very happy.
…It’s more about what Bill Belichick did in New England and Matt Patricia wanted to take that there (Detroit).” Garafolo also noted that Patricia has imposed a lengthy list of rules on the Lions, including that players aren’t allowed to take photos in the locker room and post them on social media.
As we’ve seen with the likes Bill Belichick and Tom Coughlin, the “my way or the highway” method has been proven effective in the past.
Thumbnail photo via Raj Mehta/USA TODAY Sports