'Next Man Up': Matt Patricia Discusses Plan If He Gets Coronavirus

Read more on the Lions coaching staff's plan if Matt Patricia contracts the coronavirus.

The NFL plans and protocols have been detailed and well discussed for players that test positive for the coronavirus. 

The same cannot be said for head coaches in the league. 

Two coaches have tested positive for the virus -- Eagles head coach Doug Pederson and Saints head man Sean Payton. 

"I mean, obviously, my first reaction is I call Doug, just want to make sure he was okay," head coach Matt Patricia said during a video conference Friday. "And I just checked in. Sometimes, it may be just a text message, just to get that reassurance that that person is okay."

Patricia also discussed what would occur if he was unable to coach due to contracting COVID-19. 

"If something happens to myself, who would kind of push the different sort of team meetings that we have? And then, certainly also from a signal-caller standpoint -- all three phases if something was to happen there. So, back in the summer, talked about it, and put a plan in place," he said. 

He added, "In general, we tend to do this as part of our philosophy, (which) is (to) make sure the next man is ready to go. That's not only on the football field with the players, but we have always had that with the coaching staff, to kind of (have that) next man up mentality. So, we'll probably put a little bit more emphasis on it during training camp. And maybe it's a period of practice for one of the other coaches calling the plays or something along those lines."

Patricia declined to disclose, in detail, which coach would be next in line if he was unable to lead the team on Sundays.

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