Former New England Patriots' defensive end Trey Flowers can't wait to be reunited with his old defensive coordinator Matt Patricia in Detroit. The four-year veteran signed a five-year, $90 million deal with the Lions yesterday and expressed his excitement to be playing for the second-year head coach.

“He taught me a lot of things, developed me,” Flowers said, via MLive.com. “I developed through his system of doing things. So he’s just a great guy to work for. Obviously he demands a high standard of excellence from his players, and when you get someone who can challenge you like that, day in and day out, you’re going to just continue to get better. Those are the types of guys you want to play for, because you know they’re expecting high [things] of you.”

Last season there were reports that some players were unhappy with the way Patricia ran the team during their 6-10 season. His approach to the job continued to be a talking point throughout the year and was cited as a negative factor by an agent in a survey about best and worst free agent destinations by Robert Klemko of SI.com.

Fortunately for Detroit, Flowers didn't buy into that talk and cited his experience with Patricia in New England as a reason for signing. Last year Flowers had 57 total tackles, 7.5 sacks, three forced fumbles, and two pass deflections. In 2017, Patricia's final season as the coordinator for the Patriots, Flowers had 62 tackles, 6.5 sacks, 2 forced fumbles, and three pass deflections.

Last season the Lions were tied for 14th in the league in sacks with 41. They were 21st in pass deflections with 59, and tied for 28th—with the Patriots—in forced fumbles with 10.

The Lions also brought in another former Patriot,  Danny Amendola on a one-year $4.5 million contract. We’ll see if that familiarity brings a different tune in Patricia’s second season in Detroit.