Detroit Lions News: Players continue to support the sinking ship

Just because his players continue to back him doesn’t mean Detroit Lions head coach Matt Patricia isn’t on borrowed time.

After being utterly embarrassed by the Carolina Panthers led by an XFL star at quarterback, many Detroit Lions players felt the need to voice their opinion backing their head coach once again. How many times do players feel the need to come out and defend their head coach in other NFL markets?

Are the New York Jets players continually coming out to support Adam Gase? Unlikely.

Earlier in the year newly appointed Dallas Cowboys head coach was repeatedly criticized by the teams’ fans and media. Rather than having his players come out in support, it was quite the opposite. Some Cowboys’ players who opted to remain anonymous (which I find cowardly if you are going to the press put your name on it) said they felt McCarthy failed to prepare well enough during the week leading up to game day.

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Recently, McCarthy labeled watermelons with a task to achieve or a point he was trying to drive home. McCarthy then took a sledgehammer and started to smash said watermelons as a point of emphasis to motivate his Cowboy players before their game Sunday against the Minnesota Vikings. Oddly enough, it seemed to work. Dallas edged the Vikings 31-28, snapping a four-game skid. Suddenly that kiddish stunt created some team bonding, something the veteran coach had been in dire need of.

Maybe Detroit Lions head coach Matt Patricia needs to consider smashing a watermelon before Thursday’s home tilt with the Houston Texans? At this point, it’s worth a try.

Rather than smashing watermelons, Patricia has been scrambling to patch leaks in the vessel we call the Detroit Lions, but the problem is the ship isn’t just leaking. The bow of the ship is pointed skywards, leaving the stern submerged.

It seems crazy, but even with lackluster results year after year, Patricia’s players continue to rush to his aid. In an article published by the Windsor Star, both Duron Harmon and Taylor Decker back their head coach.

"“At the end of the day, I love Matt,” said Lions’ safety Duron Harmon, who also played for Patricia in New England. “Matt is the head coach and whatever he asks of me to do, his approach as a coach, I’m going to follow him. I’m going to ride with him until the wheels come off.”“It’s frustrating,” Lions’ offensive tackle Taylor Decker said Monday as he quickly backed Patricia. “One hundred per cent, (Patricia’s) our head coach and we’re the ones who follow that and follow the plan in place because we’ve seen that when we execute and we’re prepared and we communicate well that we can be a really good football team.“(Sunday), when it came down to execution, that’s the players’ responsibility to execute things and to execute the game plans. He’s the head of our organization, he’s the leader of our organization and we trust in that.”"

After being shutout for the first time since 2009, the Detroit Lions need something to inspire this group, perhaps starting running back D’Andre Swift returning to practice Tuesday will help with team morale. It would go a long way also to see Kenny Golladay return too.

dark. Next. Week Eleven’s top performers despite loss

The Patricia experience in Detroit is all but over, and we’re just counting the weeks from here on out.

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