The Philadelphia Eagles made a major defensive coaching change this past week, handing play-calling duties from defensive coordinator Sean Desai to defensive assistant Matt Patricia. The decision came after the defense gave up over 30 points in three straight weeks to the Buffalo Bills, San Francisco 49ers and Dallas Cowboys.
It's understandable that Philadelphia wanted to shake up their defense amid their struggles, but the switch to Patricia was surprising given how much Patricia was criticized during his recent coaching stops, including by Eagles corner Darius Slay.
Patricia previously was the coach of Slay while both were on the Detroit Lions. Patricia's tenure as the Lions coach was disastrous, as he failed to win over the locker room and was instead heavily criticized. Slay was one of those players unhappy with Patricia, particularly after Patricia told Slay he wasn't ‘an elite cornerback' after Slay put up two straight Pro Bowl seasons. Patricia then traded Slay to the Eagles.
Since he joined the Eagles in April, Patricia has worked on repairing his relationship with Slay. Patricia revealed this week, “It’s really awesome for me to be back around Slay…I’m appreciative of him and the conversation we had in the spring, and honestly, he’s helped me a lot,” via Josh Tolentino of the Philadelphia Inquirer.
Patricia added, “I just gave him a big hug before I came in here,” via Jeff McLane of the Philadelphia Inquirer.
Darius Slay previously spoke out this summer how talking directly with Patricia helped them improve their once strained relationship. The Eagles will hope for these changes to now help them on the field, especially with their pass defense currently ranking fifth-last in the NFL.
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