Darius Slay recalls meeting that caused rift with Lions' Matt Patricia

Darius Slay got his wish Thursday when the Detroit Lions traded him to the Philadelphia Eagles.

Slay had been with the Lions since the 2013 season but he revealed to the Detroit Free Press that it was a 2018 incident with first-year head coach Matt Patricia that soured him.

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“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,” he told the Free Press. “I posted a picture (of a wide receiver on social media), and he 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.”

Slay said he was so peeved over the incident that his teammate, Glover Quin, had to calm him down. Slay said he talked to an assistant coach after the meeting who told him that Patricia was making a broader statement about social media in general.

A second Lions player confirmed Slay’s account to the newspaper.

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Patricia responded to Slay’s claim in a statement through a team spokesman.

“Over the last two seasons, Darius and I have had multiple conversations in private that I believed were constructive and satisfactory,” the statement to the newspaper read. “My discussions with athletes are confidential and I won't comment on anything discussed with our players in a team meeting. I appreciate his hard work and wish he and his family all the success in Philadelphia.”

Separately, a Lions source described Slay to the Free Press as a “cancer” in the locker room. Slay responded, saying “they probably got a different side of me if he ain’t say what [Patricia] said.”

Slay said his relationship with the coach was better last season but the incident made things between them irreparable.

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“Your first impression always your best impression,” Slay told the newspaper. “Like I said, I would never disrespect him in that way. And for him to be able to tell me I’m out here sucking another man’s c---k because of a picture I post, I ain’t like that. And it took me a whole nother level.”

Slay led the league in interceptions with eight the year before Patricia took over as head coach. Last season, he played 14 games and recorded two interceptions and had 46 tackles. Detroit finished 3-12-1 last year.

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