Matt Patricia Intentionally Hides His Personality to Protect Team and Family

Matt Patricia agrees that the perception of him isn't entirely accurate

Detroit Lions head coach Matt Patricia appeared as a guest on Friday's edition of ProFootballTalk hosted by Mike Florio and Chris Simms.

Throughout the interview, Patricia discussed building the "Lion's way" and even explored strategies to slow down the Chiefs' explosive offense.

Early in the interview, Simms expressed that he was frustrated and bothered that people's perception of Patricia did not actually match his real personality.

Patricia agreed and expressed, "Probably most of it's my fault too. I don't really let my normal personality out there that much. I am always just trying to be protective of the team."

He added, "I am also very conscious of my kids. I am real protective of my family. For me, I know that my boys at school have to deal with a lot. My wife, she has to deal with a lot. I am just trying to protect my family, protect our team. I don't really get to have those unfiltered moments, those kind of cut up moments where everybody sees that."

Patricia expressed in the interview that Patriots head coach Bill Belichick is his best friend, and that he took the foundations of what he learned in New England to now develop "the Detroit Lions way."

He acknowledged that as long as the Lions team and his family are protected, he is willing to take on all of the criticisms of his personality.

"I'd rather have the shots coming at me. I'll take it. It doesn't really matter -- as long as our players are protected, our team is protected, my family is protected. It doesn't matter for me, I just want want to do what is best for those guys," said Patricia.

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