When Nick Sirianni announced before the season that he was bringing in Matt Patricia to help lead the Eagles’ defense, there were quite a few eyebrows raised — not due to Patricia’s resume, but his previous relationship with one of the stars of the Philadelphia defense.

Cornerback Darius Slay and Patricia have not always seen eye to eye. The Eagles secondary member and the Philadelphia defensive assistant previously spent time together in Detroit when Patricia was head coach of the Lions. From the get-go, the two had multiple issues stemming from comments allegedly made by Patricia to Slay.

Matthew Stafford’s best throws from 377-yard return to Detroit Super Wild Card Weekend

Watch all of Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford’s best throws from his 377-yard game in his return to Ford Field against his former Detroit Lions squad during Super Wild Card Weekend of the 2023-24 NFL playoffs.

Despite the previous bad blood, the two have been able to mend their differences and work together in 2023. While the Eagles’ defense has not been nearly as dominant as it was during the 2022 season, it’s done enough to get Philadelphia into the postseason.

MORE: Detailing why the Eagles’ Tush Push is so effective with Jalen Hurts

But what exactly did Patricia say about Slay? The Sporting News revisits the feud in Detroit between the cornerback and coach.

What did Matt Patricia say to Darius Slay?
Patricia and Slay were in Detroit together in 2018 and 2019. While Slay had been with the organization since he was selected by the Lions in 2013, Patricia was brought in as the head coach to replace Jim Caldwell.

The two immediately did not see eye to eye. In Patricia’s first year at the helm, a rift between the two began after alleged comments by Patricia in a meeting between the two.

Slay said to ESPN that he was returning from a workout with fellow cornerbacks Richard Sherman, Aqib Talib and Xavier Rhodes to meet with Patricia. During the meeting, Slay recalled Patricia saying that he wasn’t “elite” at the position.

“I’m like, ‘Huh?’ I said, ‘Huh.’ I’m trying to see where he’s coming at,” Slay said “He said I wasn’t an elite corner and that I’m not in their category. I was coming off an All-Pro year, eight picks. That told me right there that he didn’t have no respect for me. He told me I was a good player, but then to tell me what I’m not, so I said, OK. I just took that to the chin and said, ‘OK, that’s cool.’

“Then I bounced back to two back-to-back Pro Bowlers on him. Let him know how elite I was.”

According to ESPN, Slay said he addressed the incident with Patricia a year later. While the coach apologized, he also said he did not recall saying it.

As bad as that was, that apparently was not the first incident of Patricia downplaying Slay’s ability. The cornerback told the Detroit Free Press about a moment before the beginning of the season that hurt the two’s relationship from the jump.

“He told me in front of the whole team, in the team meeting room, showed clips of me in practice getting a ball caught on me or so in practice,” Slay said. “I posted a picture (of a wide receiver on social media), and [Patricia] told me, stop sucking this man’s private.

“So I’m like, ‘Whoa.’ I’m like, ‘Hold up.’ Where I’m from, that don’t fly. Cause I wouldn’t say that to him. I wouldn’t say to him to stop you know what to Bill Belichick. I wouldn’t do that. That’s just not me as a man. That’s disrespectful to me and so from there on it was done with.”

Another Lions player corroborated Slay’s story, while Patricia declined to dive into the incident at all.

“Over the last two seasons, Darius and I have had multiple conversations in private that I believed were constructive and satisfactory,” Patricia said. “My discussions with athletes are confidential and I won’t comment on anything discussed with our players in a team meeting.”

BENDER: Where Jalen Hurts ranks among 14 NFL playoff starting QBs

Matt Patricia, Darius Slay reunite with Eagles
After the 2019 season, Slay was traded to the Eagles, signing a three-year contract extension with Philadelphia. Patricia was fired by Detroit in 2020.

It appeared the two would not cross paths again — but that changed ahead of the 2023 season. Patricia was brought on by Nick Sirianni as the team’s defensive play-caller, meaning he would work with Slay again.

With the relationship picking up yet again, the two elected to put the past behind them. Slay described “hugging” it out with Patricia even before the coach’s introductory press conference with the team.

“He kind of gave me a hug at least once or twice throughout the week just to holler at me,” Slay said. “Like, ‘Hey man, how you doing?’ And just be chopping it up. Sometimes we talked ball. Sometimes we talked other stuff.”

Slay said that the two met soon afterwards, putting aside their personal beef for the betterment of the team.

“Of course, me and him have got to put our personal differences to the side about what my personal feelings about him were at the time,” Slay said. “I just know he’s a coach that likes to win, and I like to win as well. I told them whatever’s best for the organization, let’s do it, because I wanted to win.

“I wanted to sacrifice what I’ve got against him to help this team. We set up a talk. We talked about it. It went well. We got a great understanding. And then a friendship and how we just kept on growing and growing.”

It wasn’t just Slay feeling the love either. Patricia recalled how “thankful” he was for Slay helping him acclimate to the Eagles organization, knowing that while the previous relationship was rocky, he was a familiar face for the coach.

“You know how it is when you go to a new place, and you are trying to learn people, you gravitate towards the ones you know,” Patricia said. “He’s out there with arms open and helped me fit in and feel comfortable. I’m really very grateful to him for that.

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

MORE: Ranking the NFL’s head coaching openings from best (Falcons) to worst (Panthers)

Slay said that he has since noticed those changes in the coach. The cornerback called Patricia a “great addition” to the Eagles and how he is a “whole different dude” than he was during his time in Detroit.

“[Patricia has] been a great addition to here, man,” Slay said. “He’s been a great dude. He for sure is a whole different dude than he was in Detroit. I must say, man, like I told him I appreciate him for being a man about the situation and coming in and trying to fix the situation.”