Considered to be a favorite for the Detroit Lions head coaching vacancy, the New York Daily News is reporting that “all signs are pointing” to Matt Patricia as the next head coach of the New York Giants.
FOXBORO — It certainly looks like the Patriots will be losing their defensive coordinator.
Considered to be a favorite for the Detroit Lions head coaching vacancy, the New York Daily News is reporting that “all signs are pointing” to Matt Patricia as the next head coach of the New York Giants.
It’s an interesting development for one of the NFL’s hottest coaching candidates. This week, Pro Football Talk reported that the Patriots were bracing to lose Patricia as it was expected he was headed to the Lions to join general manager Bob Quinn, who came from the Patriots system. However, according to the MMQB’s Peter King, Patricia favors the Giants job.
Patricia also interviewed with the Arizona Cardinals last week. The 43-year-old joined the Patriots as an offensive assistant in 2004. He was an assistant offensive line coach in 2005 before moving to the defense. He coached the linebackers (2006-2010) and then the safeties (2011) before officially being named the defensive coordinator in 2012.
Patricia has worked wonders in the Patriots defense. The performance of this year’s group has been remarkable. Despite a rocky start where the unit was ranked 31st in points allowed after four weeks, the Patriots led the NFL in points allowed from Week 5 to Week 17. The fact that the defense did this without Dont’a Hightower and an inexperienced front seven also speaks to the job Patricia did.
The Patriots defense led the NFL in points allowed last season.
Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels also interviewed for the Giants job, as well as for the Chicago Bears and Indianapolis Colts jobs. The Bears hired Chiefs offensive coordinator Matt Nagy. If Patricia gets the Giants job, that leaves McDaniels with one other head coaching option – the Colts.
In the event Patricia leaves (and it looks like he will), it’s expected that the Patriots will promote linebackers coach Brian Flores to defensive coordinator.
Titans bring physicality
There was one word the Patriots kept coming back to in describing their divisional-round opponents from Tennessee on Wednesday.
Physical.
"They're really physical," fullback James Develin said. "It's going to be an old-school, hit-them-in-the-mouth game."
"It's just a physical game," said Trey Flowers. "It's going to be physical downhill. They've got a great offensive line that’s able to push you around if you allow them."
"They're a physical team," Alan Branch said. "They're a solid team we have to give our all to stop."
If you caught the fourth quarter of the Titans' comeback win over the Chiefs, that style of play was self-evident. Derrick Henry ran through the Kansas City front for 156 yards on the day, including 85 in the final stanza. On his 22-yard third-down run to seal the game, the key block was thrown by none other than quarterback Marcus Mariota.
"He's a physical running back. He's a big guy that’s hard to get down, so he's definitely going to bring some problems to the plate," Branch said of Henry, who finished second in the NFL in fourth-quarter rushing yards and gained more than six per carry during the period this season.
Mariota can also be a part of that physical running game, especially in short yardage and to extend plays.
"We've got to put pressure on him and try to get him on the ground without allowing him to sneak out and get extra yards," Branch said.
Burkhead catches break
Running back Rex Burkhead left the game with a knee injury in the third quarter and didn’t return as the Patriots held off the Steelers for a 27-24 win in Pittsburgh in Week 15.
Burkhead initially feared the worst, but subsequent tests revealed he didn’t tear the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee.
“After an injury you never know what’s going to happen, so it’s always in the back of your head,” Burkhead said Wednesday. “But when you get good news it helps you to look forward to these games a little better.”
“These games” would be the playoffs, which commence for the Patriots on Saturday night when they take on the Tennessee Titans stop in the AFC divisional round at Gillette Stadium.
Burkhead sat out the final two games of the regular season and had an additional week of rest as the Patriots received a first-round bye in the playoffs. But if he’s healthy enough to return Saturday is a question he wasn’t answering.
“I’m just excited, but whatever happens, happens,” said Burkhead, who was limited at practice for a second straight day. “Throughout the process I was really kind of focused on this time and excited for these games. I don’t know how else to answer other than just excited.”
Three missing from practice
The Patriots were missing Malcolm Mitchell, Mike Gillislee and Marquis Flowers at Thursday’s practice. The day marked the second missed practice for Gillislee and Mitchell of this week. It also casts doubt on both players availability for Saturday’s AFC divisional matchup against the Tennessee Titans.
The Patriots do have a deadline to active Mitchell, but it’s not until next week. If the team wins Saturday and Mitchell is not placed on the 53-man roster by the AFC championship, he’ll stay on the injured reserve until the 2018 NFL season. If the Pats want Mitchell to play this weekend, he has to be added to the roster by Friday at 4 p.m.
Gillislee’s absence isn’t a surprise. The back has been dealing with a knee injury for three weeks now. The Patriots could be getting James White and Burkhead both back, along with Dion Lewis, at running back. Flowers’ absence was a surprise. The linebacker/special teams player hasn’t been on the injury report, but missed Thursday's practice with an illness.
The Patriots had six limited players — Branch (knee), Burkhead (knee), Chris Hogan (shoulder), Eric Lee (ankle/finger), Kyle Van Noy (calf) and White (ankle).
Mark Daniels writes for the Providence Journal and Rich Garven writes for the Worcester Telegram & Gazette, both of GateHouse Media.