'First Couple of Games Are Going To Be Interesting': Matt Patricia Explains His Current Approach

Lions head coach Matt Patricia discusses his approach to the first month of the NFL regular season.

Detroit Lions head coach Matt Patricia began making changes to his approach coaching back in 2012. 

With the signing of a new collective bargaining agreement eight years ago, two-a-day practices during training camp were eliminated.

“I would say honestly, my approach to the season in general probably changed a bunch of years ago when we lost doubles in training camp," Patricia explained in a video conference Friday.

As a result of the global pandemic, Detroit's entire offseason prior to the start of training camp consisted of virtual meetings. 

Minicamp and organized team activities were not conducted on the football field, and instead took place in front of a computer.

Patricia was asked Friday how he plans to approach the first month of the NFL regular season amid drastic changes to offseason routines.

"The idea is to be fundamentally sound, to do a good job with the basics and make sure that you’re not doing anything out there that may be too complicated," he said. 

He reiterated the importance of playing fundamentally sound football in order to prevent mistakes, such as penalties and turnovers.

"I think the first couple of games are going to be interesting, from things like situational football and how teams handle game management," he said. "A lot of that is going to be really important because we don’t have those trial runs of preseason where we can get in there and work on the communications. We’re going to have to try to simulate that the best we can to get ready to go."

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