Lions notes: Matt Patricia looked at OC candidates he struggled against defensively

It’s been nearly an entire month since we’ve heard from Detroit Lions head coach Matt Patricia, and the team has gone through some important changes since he’s last addressed the media. Most notably, the team has a new special teams coordinator and a new offensive coordinator.

The hiring of Darrell Bevell to coach up the offense may be one of the most important moves Patricia will make all offseason, but aside from a short explanation from general manager Bob Quinn, we don’t have much information on how the Lions head coach came to the conclusion that Bevell was their guy.

However, MMQB’s Albert Breer joined Tori Petry at the Senior Bowl this week and dropped a little interesting nugget about Patricia’s coaching search.

“What I was impressed with, with what Matt (Patricia) did was it really looked to me—and you sort of heard this a little bit, too—he was looking at guys who he had trouble with as a defensive coach,” Breer said.

Breer was also the reporter that noted Lions offensive line coach Jeff Davidson was in on coordinator interviews, so it appears he’s one of the very few who had a little access to the behind-the-scenes look at Detroit’s offensive coordinator search. And while this isn’t exactly a bombshell, it’s a nice look at Patricia’s methods.

• Darius Slay was back at it on Thursday, interviewing fellow NFC Pro Bowlers, and threatening to take Tori Petry’s job:

• If the Detroit Lions are seeking to replace Golden Tate this offseason, their man could be at this week’s Senior Bowl. South Carolina’s Deebo Samuel is performing well in practices this week and even compared himself to Tate. Justin Rogers of The Detroit News has more from Senior Bowl practices in Alabama.

• These playoffs have not exactly been a great look for the Detroit Lions:

• Nate Atkins of MLive graded each of the Lions six draft picks from the 2018 draft.

• Patriots WR coach Chad O’Shea will be the next offensive coordinator... of the Dolphins. It’s unclear what the means for former Lions head coach Jim Caldwell, who is expected to join Miami in some offensive capacity:

• This isn’t Lions related but this ESPN investigative story on the dysfunction of the Cleveland Browns is a fascinating read.