Eagles' Darius Slay, Matt Patricia hug out past beef

During Super Bowl LVII media day back in February, Philadelphia Eagles cornerback Darius Slay was brutally honest about his time playing under his former Detroit Lions head coach, Matt Patricia. 

“It was just weird how he came in like he was bigger and better than all of us,” Slay recalled his first impression of Patricia. “He was acting like we asked to be there. We do get selected. That was the crazy part about him."

Slay acknowledged that Patricia had a "big problem" with him t raining alongside elite players in the offseason back in 2018. 

“He basically just said, ‘You are not in that category yet," Slay said. “At that time, I only had one Pro Bowl but now I’m at five, so I want to know how he feels about that now. I don’t wish bad on him, but as a man, me and him just don’t get along. He’s a smart coach, he knows his Xs and Os, but the disrespect is not what I’m with.”

According to both parties, things have since changed. 

The two were able to patch things up when Patricia came to Philly as a senior assistant back in April and now... they're on hugging terms. 

“Man, I just gave him a big hug before I came in here," Patricia said on Thursday during his first press conference as the Eagles' newly promoted de facto defensive coordinator. 

“It's really been awesome for me to be back around Slay and really have an unbelievable relationship,” Patricia continue. “He's a great guy. He's super kind, super funny, he's very determined. He's everything that he is. And obviously, I’m just so appreciative of him and our conversation that we had in the spring and just, you know, just helping me. Honestly, he's helped me a lot, you know? Just kind of (helping me) get acclimated.”

Patricia expressed a lot of gratitude for Slay and admitted that he's learned a lot since then. 

“Look, as you go through life, you grow and you learn and hopefully improve and get better as a person,” Patricia said. “For me personally, where I was, whenever that was, I'm just trying to be a better person every day and I'm just really thankful to him for that.”

Patricia's first game calling the Eagles' defense didn't end too well, but he'll get three more chances to prove himself before the playoffs with Slay rooting him on from the sideline until he's cleared to play again.