Former Lions cornerback Darius Slay still fueled by Matt Patricia’s disrespect

Darius Slay had a bad exit from the Detroit Lions, and even now in a Super Bowl with the Philadelphia Eagles he hasn’t forgotten about Matt Patricia.

Darius Slay became one of the best cornerbacks in the NFL as a Detroit Lion, with three straight Pro Bowl selections from 2017-2019. But that wasn’t good enough for then-head coach Matt Patricia, with Slay on a long list of players he just couldn’t find a way get along with in Detroit.

Slay was traded to the Philadelphia Eagles in March 2020, for a third-round pick and a fifth-round pick in the 2020 draft. He made it very clear why he wanted out of Detroit very quickly after his departure.

"Shoot, I didn’t have that much respect for Matty P as a person,” Slay said. “It was hard for me to play for him. That’s all that was.”He told me I wasn’t elite,” Slay said. “He told me I had no business working out with Richard Sherman and (Aqib) Talib because I wasn’t elite, and those guys are in the elite category and I was just good.”"

Darius Slay still fueled by the disrespect from Matt Patricia

Slay has earned two more Pro Bowl selections over the last two seasons with the Eagles. Of course he didn’t go to last weekend’s Pro Bowl Games, since the Eagles are in Super Bowl LVII.

But that does not mean he has forgotten about his exit from Detroit, or Patricia.

Slay had a podium on Super Bowl Opening Night Monday night, and via Ben Raven of MLive here’s what he said about Patricia.

"It was just weird how he came in like he was bigger and better than all of us,” Slay said Monday night. “He was acting like we asked to be there. We do get selected. That was the crazy part about him.He basically just said, ‘You are not in that category yet.’ At that time, I only had one Pro Bowl. But now, I’m at five, so I want to know how he feels about that now. I don’t wish bad on him. But as a man, me and him just don’t get along. He’s a smart coach. He knows his Xs and Os. But the disrespect is not what I’m with.”"

Slay’s feelings about Patricia, and the valid reasons for them, are nothing new and they are shared by a big chunk of Lions players from those years. But nearly three years later, and as a key player on a Super Bowl team, he has not forgotten about the disrespect he was shown by the former Lions head coach.