Lions' Stafford Says Matt Patricia Has Learned from Past

Matthew Stafford expresses how head coach Matt Patricia has learned since his first year coaching the Lions

Matt Patricia has had a rocky start to his tenure coaching the Detroit Lions.

In two seasons at the helm, he has gone a combined 9-22-1, and has led the Lions to back-to-back last-place finishes in the NFC North.

Also, several players that have departed the organization, most notably safety Quandre Diggs and cornerback Darius Slay, have spoken unfavorably about Patricia and his coaching tactics.

In recent months, however, former and current players have come out in support of Patricia, and have expressed that he has learned from his rough first season in Motown. 

One of those players is longtime Lions franchise passer Matthew Stafford.

When talking with members of the Detroit media Thursday afternoon, Stafford talked about how Patricia has used the last two years to learn "about himself" and to learn what works best for him as a head coach.

"I think steps from year one to year two, probably like rookie year to second year as a player, are some of the biggest leaps you can make, and I thought he did a great job last year," Stafford said. "It didn't reflect so much in our record (3-12-1). But, I thought he did a great job."

One of the biggest criticisms of the Patricia era has been the strict locker room atmosphere, which has caused players -- like Diggs and Slay -- to conform to conditions that are often far from desirable.

Defensive lineman Mike Daniels, who spent a lone season in Motown a year ago, didn't find an issue with the tight-lipped nature of the locker room, though.

“The locker room was awesome," Daniels told Brady Quinn and Bruce Murray in a recent interview on SiriusXM NFL Radio. "I definitely enjoyed my teammates there. That was one of the hardest group of guys I’ve ever played with. It’s unfortunate things went the way they went outside of a lot of guys’ control, but when you really see how hard those guys were working, it was very encouraging."

An ultra important 2020 campaign awaits Patricia, with a mandate from ownership to turn the Lions into playoff contenders.

And a big component of turning the Lions into winners will be his ability to win over the locker room.

If he doesn't and if the franchise doesn't significantly improve in the win-loss column, he and Detroit general manager Bob Quinn will likely be out of jobs at season's end.

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