Eagles cornerback Darius Slay has criticized former Detroit Lions head coach Matt Patricia, who Slay considered to be “disrespectful,” as recently as last month.
And it’s why football enthusiasts and Philadelphia fanatics can’t wrap their heads around the Eagles potentially reuniting Patricia back with Slay.
The Boston Herald’s Karen Guregian reported Sunday how Patricia, the longtime New England Patriots assistant, has a “shot to land” in Philadelphia and work on the defensive side of the ball, presumably as the linebackers coach. Patricia, who served as the Patriots offensive play-caller and offensive line coach in 2022, is unlikely to return to New England after Bill Belichick hired Bill O’Brien as the offensive coordinator and Adrian Klemm as the offensive line coach.
The report linking Patricia to the Eagles prompted many to think about Slay and speculate whether he would ask for a trade or whether the team plans to trade him should Patricia be hired.
Those are just a handful of the countless tweets.
Slay most recently voiced his distaste for Patricia while speaking at Super Bowl LVII Media Day before the Eagles faced the Kansas City Chiefs. The 32-year-old cornerback recalled when Patricia told him he shouldn’t be working out with Richard Sherman and Aqib Talib because he wasn’t the same caliber of player.
“He basically just said, ‘You are not in that category yet,'” Slay told reporters in Arizona. “By that time, I only had one Pro Bowl but now I’m at five. So I want to know how he feel about that now.”
Slat added: “I don’t wish no bad on no man, I always hope the best for him, but as a man, me and him just don’t get along. But his coaching as a coach, he’s a smart coach. He knows X’s and O’s, he knows how to coach a guy up. But it’s just being a man. The disrespect is not what I’m with.”
Slay, who is entering the final year of his contract, might want to remind the Eagles organization of how he feels before Patricia heads to Philadelphia.
