The Patriots-Lions connections run deep

DETROIT – It doesn’t take long to see the connections between the Patriots and Detroit Lions. All you need to do is take a quick look at the coaching staff, front office and roster.

The Lions first attempted to implement the Patriots culture into Detroit when they hired Bob Quinn as their general manager in 2016. Quinn rose through the Patriots franchise from 2000-2015. Two years later, Quinn hired Patriots defensive coordinator Matt Patricia as the Lions head coach. [...]

DETROIT – It doesn’t take long to see the connections between the Patriots and Detroit Lions. All you need to do is take a quick look at the coaching staff, front office and roster.

The Lions first attempted to implement the Patriots culture into Detroit when they hired Bob Quinn as their general manager in 2016. Quinn rose through the Patriots franchise from 2000-2015. Two years later, Quinn hired Patriots defensive coordinator Matt Patricia as the Lions head coach.

The connections have only grown since then. When the Patriots take on the Lions in their preseason opener on Thursday, there will be many familiar faces on the sideline.

Currently, the Lions have nine former Patriots on their roster - Trey Flowers, Danny Amendola, Justin Coleman, Rashaan Melvin, Tavon Wilson, Eric Lee, Luke Bowanko, Darius Kilgo and John Atkins. Detroit has two former Patriots on their coaching staff – Steve Gregory and Leon Washington. Even their ‘football performance coordinator’ Harold Nash Jr. is the Patriots former strength and conditioning coach.

“It’s always good when you bring guys in that you’re familiar with and kind of already have a background from that standpoint,” Patricia said when asked about carrying over the Patriots culture to Detroit. “They understand what – for me as a head coach, what I expect and what we’re trying to do. The culture here is strictly Lions culture. We’re trying to build our own culture here, and we’re just trying to bring in the right guys.”

As the Patriots and Lions held joint practices this week, it was easy to see the close relationship to both Bill Belichick and Patricia. It was also evident that the Lions continue to take a page out of the Patriots book – the organization even built a hill next to the practice field for the players to run, which is almost identical to the one in Foxboro.

This offseason, the Lions doled out $90 million for Flowers and $36 million for Coleman. Coleman said this week that his time with the Patriots is what led him to Detroit where the Lions made him the highest paid slot cornerback in the NFL.

“It was just some learning. It got me to where I am today,” Coleman said. “Learning how to be a player and learning how to be a student of the game as well… Everything that happened before helped me to get here.”

Amendola signed with the Lions in March and said that Patricia’s preparation is reminiscent to what it was like with the Patriots. Of course, for Patricia to have success, he’ll need to be his own man.

“There’s a lot of similarities, obviously. There’s some differences, too,” Amendola said. “Matt’s his own coach, his own mind. He does a great job with us. We love playing hard for him. I’m excited to be here. We’ve had some familiarity in the past, so I really respect him and want to play hard for him.”