FOXBORO, Mass. — Outside Bill Belichick, no NFL head coach knows what to expect from Tom Brady more than Matt Patricia.
After all, the Detroit Lions head coach had to deal with Brady on a daily basis for over a decade while serving in various roles on the New England Patriots’ coaching staff — most recently the defensive coordinator title he held from 2012 to 2017.
So, what was Patricia’s “secret” to containing Brady on the Gillette Stadium practice field during training camp and mid-week practices?
“During practice? Probably the fact that it was practice,” Patricia quipped Wednesday in a conference call.
If he was still a coordinator, Patricia may have left his answer there. But considering he’s now head coach of Lions team bracing for a Sunday night showdown with the Patriots, Patricia offered to elaborate on the challenge Brady presented him in New England.
“Just going back to (the Boston Herald’s) Karen (Guregian) to make sure I answer her question … Just in regards to trying to slow him down, he’s obviously such a great player,” Patricia said. “Someone that you see every single day that I would practice against that I have the utmost respect for, the way that he approaches the game, his competitiveness, the way that he can just increase the level of his focus in the competition of practice was great.
“Lot of obviously great memories and great situations where every single day it’s kind of going against each other. I think he’s just a phenomenal player and an even better person. So, the practice part of it was always fun, for the love of the game. It’s a little bit different now I think, from this standpoint.”
Patricia is right about that. His reeling Detroit defense has allowed 78 points through two games — tied with the Buffalo Bills for the most in the NFL — and a whopping 359 rushing yards, the most in the league.
While Patricia wouldn’t reveal any specifics about the Lions’ plan to thwart New England’s offense, he did confirm the importance of disguising Detroit’s defensive looks against a smart quarterback like Brady — to a certain extent.
“You certainly want to do that against Tom Brady,” Patricia said. “With his level of expertise and his level to just understand defense, understand coverage, understand location, run-stick, I mean, it’s the full package. So, you get that done and you go out there and do that pre-snap, it’s great.
“I think you’re also in a situation though where people go out and try to do too much or trying to over-disguise something, you put yourself in a bad situation. He’s going to find that pretty quick. You might be either out of position or slightly out-leveraged or just not really lined up where you’re supposed to be lined up because you’re worried about the disguise, and in the end, the disguise kind of ruins your opportunity to execute. And that’s where you can get in a lot of trouble.”
