5 Detroit Lions players you may have forgotten about from the Matt Patricia era

The entire Matt Patricia era was forgettable in Detroit, but you may have forgotten these players suited up for the Lions during those years.

It still seems amazing to realize Matt Patricia lasted less than three full seasons as Detroit Lions head coach. His attempt to implement the “Patriot Way” in Detroit lasted 43 games, with a 13-29-1 record that feels like it should be worse (a 7-19-1 record over the 2019 and 2020 campaigns before he was fired helps that feeling).

The Lions are putting the Patricia era behind them now, and they seem to be on a good track. Many fans would like to forget one of the more helpless runs in the history of a franchise that has had plenty of ineptitude.

Patricia and general manager Bob Quinn did a lot of roster churning during their time together, taking a team that went 9-7 in Jim Caldwell’s final season as head coach (2017) quickly down to a 3-12-1 mark in 2019.

Even though it’s a painfully dismal era for the franchise, with a head coach who had an ego his coaching ability couldn’t match, here are five players you may have forgotten played for the Lions during the Matt Patricia era.

5 players you may have forgotten played for the Lions under Matt Patricia

5. DL Sylvester Williams (2018)

A first-round pick by the Denver Broncos (28th overall) in 2013, Williams lasted four seasons in Denver before landing with the Tennessee Titans in 2017.

After the Titans cut Williams in 2018, the Lions gave him a shot. In six games (four starts), he had six total tackles and no sacks. Then they cut him themselves in October, and he landed with the Miami Dolphins.

Williams spent 2019 with the Los Angeles Chargers, before going back to the Broncos in 2020, totaling 13 games played those seasons. He was out of the league last season, and his NFL career might be over.