Jason Cabinda Details How Matt Patricia Angered Darius Slay

A pair of former Detroit Lions shed more light on the tense relationship between former head coach Matt Patricia and defensive back Darius Slay during their time together in Detroit.

Patricia served as the head coach from 2018-20, with Slay playing seven seasons for the organization from 2013-19. The two famously did not see eye-to-eye during their time together, and Slay was traded to the Philadelphia Eagles ahead of the 2020 season.

Two of Slay's teammates in 2018, cornerback Amani Oruwariye and fullback Jason Cabinda, shared a story that emphasized the tension between the two parties during a recent episode of Cabinda's show, 'Fairway Huddle' for State Media.

Cabinda explained that, following a joint practice session with the New York Giants in 2018, Slay was observed having a conversation with Giants wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. This angered Patricia, who wanted to see his players avoid interactions with players they were competing against.

"Odell was getting the better of Slay during practices," Cabinda said. "We come into that team meeting room, and after practice, Slay is chopping it up with Odell, they're taking pictures and all that type of stuff. Matty P is trying to drive culture and being hard-nosed and hard-headed as f**k and f**k everybody, that was his vibe. Matty P didn't like that, that they were shaking hands, taking pictures after and stuff."

To set a tone within the team, Cabinda said that the defensive-minded coach put together a string of cut-ups showcasing Slay getting exposed by the talented wide receiver. He called out the veteran, which in turn angered the player leading to dissent.

"So Matty P comes in and makes up a little compilation of the routes that Odell beat Slay on and was showing it in the team meeting room with the pointer," Cabinda explained. "Slay was getting cooked by Odell, and after he gets done showing the plays with the laser pointer, he's like, 'This is your best friend? This is your guy?' Basically challenging him on like, 'Why are you shaking hands with this guy after? That's the enemy,' type of vibe. It was very much so an embarassing tactic type of deal. Slay was not having that s**t at all. That was for sure the worst way Matty P could've handled that and it fractured their relationship."

For Oruwariye, who was drafted in the fifth-round of the 2018 draft, it was a wake-up call. The rookie quickly believed that the argument was commonplace in the NFL, but came to learn that the anger between the two parties was rather uncommon at the professional level.

"It just looked it was a who's gonna big-chest, big-dog who (situation)? Obviously Matty P had the authority, Slay is the older vet that's been there and has been established," Oruwariye said. "I can't remember the context of it, I just know Slay wasn't having it. He's been with (former Lions head coach Jim) Caldwell, and some of these other guys that were maybe a little bit more reasonable. And I think he just felt like Matty P's ways and his methods were unreasonable and hard to cope with."