Darius Slay explains why he made amends with Matt Patricia

Cornerback Darius Slay has long had some very negative things to say about Matt Patricia, his former head coach in Detroit. Now that the two are working together again, things have been patched up.

Slay spent two seasons playing for Patricia in Detroit before he was traded to the Philadelphia Eagles. At the time of the trade, Slay was labeled as a cancer by reports from Detroit, which did not sit well with Slay.

With Patricia joining the Eagles as a defensive assistant, Slay admitted he had needed to have a discussion with Patricia before the two could really work together.

“It took a lot for both of us to talk, so we did a great job,” Slay said, via Bobby Kownack of NFL.com. “We communicate every day, we talk every day, we’re just trying to build everything going forward because at the end of the day we want to win. That’s his main goal and that’s my main goal, so we’ll continue to keep building.”

Time has made Slay look pretty good as far as his criticisms go. Patricia wound up getting fired by the Lions and his return to New England went so poorly that even Bill Belichick decided it was time for the two sides to move on. Slay remains one of the league’s top cornerbacks. It’s probably easier for them to meet in the middle in light of all that.