Matt Patricia’s future in New England may be coming to a close, but you’d never know it by listening to him.
The Patriots defensive coordinator, who will reportedly be announced as the new head coach of the Lions in Detroit after the Super Bowl, spoke to the media Monday night and remains as focused as ever in preparing his team to take on the Eagles this weekend. As far as he’s concerned, this week is all that matters and it’s the only thing on his mind.
“I really just have one job,” Patricia said via the Detroit Free Press when asked about the Lions Monday. “I’m the Patriots’ defensive coordinator, that’s it. So I’m just trying to get ready for the Philadelphia Eagles.”
As a head coach Bill Belichick has said on more than one occasion, being in the Super Bowl is both a blessing and a curse. As great as it is to win what is essentially the ultimate prize for any franchise, it doesn’t change the fact that the goal for the next season remains exactly the same. Playing into late January and February takes time away from the preparations necessary to begin planning for the year ahead, which 30 other teams already have a head start on.
That’s likely a concern as Patricia gets set to join former Patriots Scouting Director, Bob Quinn, who is now the General Manager of the Lions. Quinn, who was hired back in 2016, is facing a lot of pressure in Detroit and his future is now in the hands of the man who will be looking to add a third Super Bowl to his resume before he tries to right everything that’s wrong in the Motor City. But as nice as potentially winning another title might be, that elation will be forgotten if the Lions aren’t on the right side of the win/loss column next season.
For now, that appears to be off Patricia’s radar as he’s seemingly got Philadelphia firmly in his crosshairs. His job at this point is to make sure he’s able to keep Nick Foles and the Eagles’ offense at bay this weekend and that’s the only thing currently keeping him up at night right.
“I’m paranoid,” said Patricia on the job ahead for this week. “I’ve got a huge offense that I’ve got to try to stop, so it’s head down, try to grind it out, try to make sure that we’re covering everything we need to cover.”
“You know, my biggest concern is always going to be making sure that our players are prepared. That’s the thing I worry about the most and make sure that I put them in a good enough position where they have a chance to succeed, so that’s what we’re worried about.”
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Ian Logue is a Seacoast native and owner and senior writer for PatsFans.com, an independent media site covering the New England Patriots and has been running this site in one form or another since 1997.
