The Detroit Lions will kick off their 2019 season against the Arizona Cardinals in Week 1. To begin the year, head coach Matt Patricia will coach from behind the team's bench due to his injured foot per Ian Rapoport.
#Lions coach Matt Patricia, whose injured foot has meant he couldn’t walk the sidelines in the preseason, tentatively plans to be safe and coach from behind the bench today. The preseason was good prep for their communication.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) September 8, 2019
Prior to training camp, Patricia underwent surgery on his foot to clean up some issues that he had with it. As a result, the defensive-minded coach was seen during training camp moving around on a knee-scooter and four-wheeler.
During the preseason though, the second-year head coach was communicating with his coaching staff from behind the bench on the sideline. Patricia wants to avoid any risk of having his foot trampled on while he continues to recover from his surgery.
Therefore, Detroit has already adjusted to life with their head coach being off of his feet during the game. It's not as if Patricia isn't on the field with them still helping make decisions in the game.
The Lions are heading into their second season with Patricia as their head coach. Over the course of the offseason, the Lions bulked up their defensive line by adding Trey Flowers and Mike Daniels. Along with those guys, they also have Damon Harrison and Romeo Okwara.
Coming into Week 1, the plan is to deploy their new-look defensive front against an inexperienced Cardinals team. The No. 1 pick in the 2019 NFL Draft, Kyler Murray, will need to be ready to use his legs to make plays as he did at Oklahoma in 2018.
Unlike Murray, Patricia won't be using his legs much on Sunday when the Lions and Cardinals square off against each other.
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