Philadelphia Eagles cornerback Darius Slay spoke about the team's hiring of Matt Patricia as a senior defensive assistant. Patricia was Slay's coach with the Detroit Lions before their relationship turned sour and Slay was traded to the Eagles in 2020.

Via SB Nation's Brandon Lee Gowton:

“Me and him talked as man-to-man, we got a great understanding, we both want to win,” Slay said. “He's going to help me get better, he wants to get better as a coach. So we in good hands right now, man. It took a lot for both of us to talk, so we did a great job communicating everything, talk every day. So we're just trying to build everything going forward because at the end of the day, we want to win. That's his main goal, that's my main goal. So we'll continue to keep building.”

After he was traded to Philadelphia, Slay said he lost all respect for Patricia when the two were with the Lions. The cornerback said the coach told him in a 2018 meeting he was not an elite player. Later, Patricia told Slay in a training camp meeting to stop kissing up to another player, although he used more profane language.

The two are now reunited in Philadelphia. Slay has been named to the Pro Bowl twice in his Eagles tenure and helped lead the team to Super Bowl LVII in 2022.

Slay played for the Lions from 2013 to 2019. His best season was in 2017, when he was named first-team All-Pro and had a career-best 54 solo tackles, 26 passes defended and eight interceptions.

Patricia and Slay will need to put their differences behind them for this relationship to work. The Eagles are looking to get back to the Super Bowl, so Slay hopes that will be their main focus.