Pro Bowl cornerback Darius Slay wasn’t shy about publicly making trade demands from the Detroit Lions this offseason, and finally got his wish, getting dealt to the Philadelphia Eagles this week.
In an interview with the Detroit Free Press, Slay opened up about why he was so desperate to get out of Detroit — and it pretty much all fell on Lions head coach Matt Patricia, who Slay says he “lost all respect” for following two incidents with the team.
The first incident seems benign enough, and probably stems from a lack of trust and communication. Slay recounts that in an early meeting with Patricia, the new Lions coach said that Slay wasn’t an “elite” cornerback yet, despite coming off an eight-interception season and a Pro Bowl nod.
What Patricia probably thought was a motivational tactic backfired, and rubbed Slay the wrong way.
It got worse, however, in a second incident, when, according to Slay and verified by two Lions teammates who spoke anonymously, Patricia called him out in front of the entire Lions team.
Slay says he had been beaten twice in practice by a receiver, then, unrelatedly, had posted a photo with the receiver to social media.
At the start of the meeting later that night, Patricia used the social media photo at the start of the meeting along with a small highlight tape of said player on the board before addressing Slay.
Slay, 29, said Patricia put the picture on the team board, with Patricia essentially telling him to stop kissing up to another player, although the coach used a more profane analogy.
Slay and the anonymous Lions players said that Slay didn’t react in the moment, but it essentially soured any chance the two would have a working relationship going forward.
