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- Mar 19, 2019
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When linebacker Jamie Collins left the Patriots for the first time, he wasn’t able to continue the success he had in New England while with the Browns.
Lions head coach Matt Patricia knows a bit about falling short away from the Patriots after two losing seasons in Detroit. Collins became part of the plan to change things up when he signed with the Lions as a free agent in March and he said he thinks he can bring professionalism needed to make things better for his new team.
Patricia said on Tuesday that he shares that belief and also called Collins one of the “most amazing athletes” he’s ever seen on a football field.
“I’ve literally watched him stand at the line of scrimmage and try to grab the ball out of the quarterback’s hand as he was throwing it,” Patricia said, via the team’s website. “He just can do those things. Sometimes you run into those type of athletes. He’s a very versatile player. He has great flexibility — is a threat in the rush, is a threat in coverage, is very smart, communicates really well. He’s mature. He has great leadership about him. He’s professional. He attacks his job the same every single day. He loves this game. He grinds at it. He works hard. To be able to bring a guy like that into our organization, and to allow him to help develop some of the younger players we have, even at the linebacker position, just was a great opportunity for us.”
The Lions have added a lot of new players to the team since Patricia arrived in 2018, but they haven’t realized any gains on the field to this point. If the moves for Collins and others this year don’t fare better, it will be interesting to see if new people will be at the reins in 2021.