When the Philadelphia Eagles added Matt Patricia to their coaching staff this offseason, one of the first questions was what cornerback Darius Slay thought about the move.
Patricia and Slay had a rocky relationship in Detroit -- to put it mildly -- before the Lions shipped the star corner to Philly in 2020.
Asked during a charity golf outing for former Lions teammate Calvin Johnson in Detroit about his relationship with Patricia, Slay said things have been "cordial."
"It's another day at the office," Slay said Monday, via Jenna Malinowski of the Detroit Free Press. "We both got the same goal, just going out there to compete and win a championship, so that's the main focus."
When Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni announced earlier this offseason that the club would add Patricia to his staff, the coach indicated he'd spoken to Slay and Patricia about their situation, noting, "I know that it'll be a good working relationship for us."
That's the crux of the situation. It's a working relationship, nothing more. The corner and senior defensive assistant don't have to love each other. They just have to not upset the apple cart. It helps that the Eagles have a stable organization and winning culture that can paper over any underlying animosity -- something Detroit lacked during Patricia's tenure.