While it’s still unclear exactly how often it’s happening, Lions head coach Matt Patricia admitted after Sunday’s loss in Washington that he has taken over at least some of the team’s in-game defensive playcalling.
In one of the first questions of his postgame press conference, Patricia stated he has taken over calling the defense during certain points of the game from coordinator Paul Pasqualoni.
“I have a lot of different roles on game day,” Patricia said. “Certainly from that standpoint, I’m very active in the communication from all phases of the game – all three phases – and so there’s going to be plays out there that I can call. There’s going to be plays [Pasqualoni]’s calling. There’s going to be plays out there that certainly are just automatic for us.”
Earlier this season, Patricia insisted Pasqualoni was the one, and the only one, making the in-game defensive calls. How much is Patricia calling?
“I don’t know,” Patricia responded when asked the percentage he’s calling. “I’m not going to get into that stuff. Again, I’m not really going to get into the details. It changes week by week.”
Other than the final scoring drive by the Redskins, Detroit’s defense played well in Washington. The Skins managed just 13 first downs and 230 total yards. That’s not exactly a prime accomplishment, however; Washington started rookie QB Dwayne Haskins and ranked in the bottom five of just about every offensive statistical metric entering the game.