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

DETROIT, MI - NOVEMBER 26: Head coach Matt Patricia of the Detroit Lions gives a thumbs up before the game against the Houston Texans at Ford Field on November 26, 2020 in Detroit, Michigan. Matt Patricia was fired from his role as Detroit Lions head coach on Saturday, November 28, 2020. (Photo by Nic Antaya/Getty Images) /

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Credit: Norm Hall/Getty Images /

4. QB Matt Cassel (2018)

Cassel most famously started most of the 2008 season for the New England Patriots after Tom Brady suffered a torn ACL in Week 1. Then he was flipped to the Kansas City Chiefs, where he started 30 games over the next two seasons and a total of 47 over four seasons in Kansas City. He would go on to start games for the Minnesota Vikings, Buffalo Bills, Dallas Cowboys and Tennessee Titans over the rest of what became a certified journeyman career.

Those shared Patriots’ roots with Patricia and Quinn surely helped bring Cassel to Detroit in 2018. He played in two games as Matthew Stafford’s veteran backup during the 2018 season, completing 7 of 17 pass attempts for 59 yards with an interception.

That 2018 campaign was the last of Cassel’s career. A seventh-round pick who also famously never started a game under center in college at USC, with Heisman winners Carson Palmer and Matt Leinart ahead of him, he played 14 NFL seasons.

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