The Philadelphia Eagles are in a window of Super Bowl contention and don’t want to waste any of it. But they risked some of their unity by firing Matt Patricia as a senior defensive assistant coach. The former Detroit Lions head coach butted heads with Darius Slay, one of the Eagles' key defenders, back in the day.
The two former foes seem to be putting their past behind them now. Slay and Patricia's rough past is water under the bridge now for the star cornerback, according to Jenna Malinowski of the Detroit Free Press. Their relationship is “cordial” now as they try to help the Eagles compete for a Super Bowl.
“It's another day at the office,” Slay said, via the Detroit Free Press. “We both got the same goal, just going out there to compete and win a championship, so that's the main focus…He kind of mentored me a good bit on the offensive side of the ball, just battling against each other in practice. [He] helped me become who I am.”
After Patricia coached the New England Patriots for a pair of seasons following his firing by the Lions, Patricia is joining Nick Sirianni's staff with the Eagles. Sirianni and the Eagles were upfront with Slay about the decision to hire him, making the process much easier.
With the Eagles, Patricia will work with new defensive coordinator Sean Desai to maintain a strong unit headlined by Slay, James Bradberry and Haason Reddick. Philadelphia doesn’t have time for old feuds to pop back up and cause problems. Fortunately, with the two former Lions, there doesn’t seem to be anything to worry about.
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