MATT PATRICIA

Pittsburgh Steelers senior defensive assistant Teryl Austin says the NFL needs to keep finding opportunities for coaches of color.

The Detroit Lions’ new coach and quarterback are off to a start that resembles the team’s previous regimes.

FILE - This is a 2016 file photo showing Dan Campbell of the New Orleans Saints NFL football team. The Detroit Lions have agreed to terms with Dan Campbell to be their coach. (AP Photo/File)The Detroit Lions landed the coach they coveted from the start of their search by hiring Dan Campbell. Philadelphia and Houston, meanwhile, still have an opening for a head coach. Patricia, a former New England defensive coordinator, was 13-29-1 in two-plus seasons as a first-time NFL head coach.

Chicago Bears head coach Matt Nagy watches during the first half of an NFL football game against the Green Bay Packers Sunday, Jan. 3, 2021, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)While Matt Nagy gets to coach Chicago in the playoffs despite a middling 8-8 record that could help save his job, former Bears coach Lovie Smith can only wonder if the extra team in the postseason could have helped him eight years ago. Smith’s Bears teams from the beginning of last decade are near the top of that list. Chicago lost five of six and missed the postseason as the seventh seed with an 8-8 mark. The tough-luck missing playoff team that season was the Giants, who missed out the year before Eli Manning and Co. won their second Super Bowl under coach Tom Coughlin.

FILE - In this Dec. 15 2019, file photo, Los Angeles Chargers head coach Anthony Lynn speaks after an NFL football game against the Minnesota Vikings, in Carson, Calif. The Los Angeles Chargers have fired coach Anthony Lynn less than two seasons after he led the franchise to the AFC divisional round. (AP Photo/Kelvin Kuo, File)COSTA MESA, Calif. – A four-game winning streak at the end of the season wasn't enough to save Anthony Lynn's job with the Los Angeles Chargers. Lynn led the franchise to the playoffs in 2018 but Los Angeles had losing records the last two seasons. Hired by the Chargers in January 2017, Lynn was the first Black head coach in franchise history and had one year remaining on his contract.

(AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)Detroit Lions interim coach Darrell Bevell is the NFL’s first head coach to miss a game because of COVID-19 protocols even though he has not tested positive for the coronavirus. The Lions (5-9) will also be without defensive coordinator Cory Undlin, defensive line coach Bo Davis, defensive backs coach Steve Gregory and linebackers coach Ty McKenzie against Tampa Bay (9-5) on Saturday. For the Lions, they will lean on two men to call plays for the first time in an NFL game. I’m calling plays in an NFL game. “So I don’t want to speak for those guys.”The Lions closed their training facility on Tuesday because one player and one coach tested positive for the coronavirus.

The Demon Deacons haven’t played since Nov. 27 after pausing team activities due to novel coronavirus issues. The Orange have paused team activities due to contact tracing. ___South Carolina’s 2-8 football team won’t be going to a bowl game after pausing team activities due to the novel coronavirus. Tanner said the combination of positive COVID-19 tests plus necessary contact tracing made it impossible to compete. In all, 16,222 COVID-19 tests were administered over a seven-day period ending last Saturday to 2,391 players, and 25,279 tests were administered to 4,536 personnel.

Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford (9) throws for a touchdown against the Chicago Bears in the second half of an NFL football game in Chicago, Sunday, Dec. 6, 2020. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)CHICAGO – Darrell Bevell had a hard time processing everything from his first game as an NFL coach. They fired general manager Bob Quinn and coach Matt Patricia while elevating Bevell, their offensive coordinator, to interim coach. But the Lions turned things around down the stretch, sending the Bears (5-7) to their sixth straight loss. The Lions came out on top after losing four of five, and Stafford gave Bevell the game ball.

(AP Photo/Chris Szagola)In this strangest of NFL seasons in this weirdest of years, here's a matchup of division leaders you wouldn't expect: Seattle hosting the New York Giants. “If you win your division, you win your division,” Carroll says, and he knows: Seattle went 7-9 in 2010 and won the NFC West, then beat New Orleans in a playoff game. Patrick Mahomes has thrown for at least 300 yards seven times this season and has 22 straight games with at least one TD passing. New England has won the past five meetings, including a 2018 divisional playoff game. Chargers WR Keenan Allen leads the NFL with 85 receptions and has a TD catch in five straight games.

The last time the Texans travelled to Detroit for a regular season game was in 2012, also played on Thanksgiving. They're 3-7 and trying to just keep these good vibes going week to week. So basically, once every ten times Watson has set foot on an NFL field, he's been the best player in the conference that week. Ironically, they go into this Week 12 game with both Fuller and Cooks having played in every game this season, and Randall Cobb and Kenny Stills both injured. Support UsSPREAD: Texans -2PREDICTION: Texans 31, Lions 24Listen to Sean Pendergast on SportsRadio 610 from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. weekdays.

(Jose Sena Goulao, Pool via AP)The Latest on the effects of the coronavirus outbreak on sports around the world:___The Detroit Lions have put safety Jalen Elliott on the reserve/COVID-19 list. The list is for players who either test positive or have been in close contact with an infected person. ___UConn has suspended all men's basketball activities after a player tested positive for the coronavirus. The confirmation of a positive COVID-19 case occurs when a player receives two consecutive positive test results. He was placed on it because he had been in close contact with someone who had tested positive.

DETROIT – Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford was placed on the Reserve/COVID-19 list, although his wife Kelly said on social media he tested negative. The Reserve/COVID-19 list was created for players who either test positive or have been in close contact with an infected person. Some NFL teams have closed their training centers after players and or staff members tested positive for COVID-19. Three months ago, the Lions removed Stafford from the COVID-19 list after saying he received a false positive test result. Kelly Stafford had plenty to say on her Instagram page in August after the false positive test, lashing out at the league for publicly putting her husband on the list.

Indianapolis Colts quarterback Philip Rivers (17) throws during the first half of an NFL football game against the Detroit Lions, Sunday, Nov. 1, 2020, in Detroit. Rivers threw three touchdown passes in the second quarter to help the Colts surge past Detroit for a 41-21 victory Sunday following a first quarter in which they averaged a little more than 1 yard rushing on 10 carries. Rivers threw passes to 11 teammates. Hines had so much energy he celebrated each of his two touchdowns in the second quarter with moves that would make a gymnast proud, pulling off roundoffs into full twists in the end zone. Three plays later, Rivers threw a 7-yard, tiebreaking touchdown pass to Jack Doyle.

The Packers (4-0) and Detroit Lions (1-3) don’t play this week and therefore are the first NFL teams to get a taste of how different off weeks will be amid a pandemic. “We have new protocols in place that are meant to keep everybody safe and healthy,” Lions coach Matt Patricia said. The NFL sent out a reminder Friday that the league’s agreement with the NFL Players Association in August means players who miss tests can be punished with a $50,000 fine. “You’ve got to look no further than Tennessee.”The protocols are impacting some players more than others. While the protocols have changed those plans, it has created opportunities for those players who already have their family members with them.

In other words, there are two Bill O'Briens — there's the head coach who is named "Bill," and the GM who is named "William." Well, three weeks in, William O'Brien's atrocious personnel decisions this past offseason have really pained Bill O'Brien into a corner. Not that Bill O'Brien doesn't deserve some serious blame. Bill O'Brien, the head coach, is wasting Deshaun Watson's early prime by tossing him to the wolves every Sunday behind this underachieving offensive line. Look, Fangio can't control the injuries, but the Broncos are ripe to hire a young, forward thinking, offensive head coach.

Detroit Lions safety Duron Harmon addresses the media with his teammates outside the Lions NFL football camp practice facility, Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2020, in Allen Park, Mich. The players were reacting to the recent shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wis., on Sunday. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)ALLEN PARK, Mich. The Detroit Lions decided not to practice on Tuesday, protesting after a Black man was shot by police in Wisconsin. Lions coach Matt Patricia opened the team's morning meeting by allowing players to share their thoughts on the shooting of Jacob Blake, who is paralyzed from the waist down. Lions players and Patricia later filed out of the team's practice facility, pushing a dry-erase board on wheels along the sidewalk to address the media.

FILE - In this Nov. 3, 2019, file photo, Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford warms up before an NFL football game against the Oakland Raiders in Oakland, Calif. Since the start of last year, Matthew Stafford has had to deal with a health scare involving his wife, his own injury problems -- and more recently, a coronavirus test that the team later described as a false positive. It's been a difficult period for the Detroit star. (AP Photo/D. Ross Cameron, File)

FILE - In this Nov. 3, 2019, file photo, Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford warms up before an NFL football game against the Oakland Raiders in Oakland, Calif. Ross Cameron, File)DETROIT Matthew Stafford says he didn't give much thought to opting out of this coming season. I never gave it serious, you know, thought, Stafford said Tuesday. Then Stafford went through football-related injuries that halted his 2019 season. There was already uncertainty about this NFL season and whether it could even be played when Stafford tested positive and went on COVID-IR.

A statement from Houston Texans Chairman and CEO Cal McNair on title changes for Bill OBrien (Head Coach and General Manager) and Jack Easterby (Executive Vice President of Football Operations):???? https://t.co/KjfeVTXtEY pic.twitter.com/vABMYlSC2L Houston Texans (@HoustonTexans) January 28, 2020It will likely be a long time, if ever, that Hard Knocks returns to Houston. The criteria is as follows to get out of doing Hard Knocks, a team has to have a new head coach, or have been in the playoffs within the last two years, or have previously appeared on Hard Knocks within the last ten years. Kingsbury did a better job in his first season as an NFL head coach than I thought he would. PITTSBURGH STEELERSBecause of that rule where teams who make the playoffs generally don't have to be on Hard Knocks, we rarely see blue blood franchises on this list.

Texans defensive backs have had trouble covering Fuller in practices, as did Packers defensive backs in Green Bay. Quote of the dayWe put in work, so we expect the results. DeAndre Hopkins, when asked if the Texans can have one of the best receiving corps in the NFL. Working with the LionsTexans coach Bill OBrien and Lions coach Matt Patricia coached together with the New England Patriots from 2007 to 2011. Matt does a really good job -- very smart guy, really good coach and it was good to work with those guys today. Offensive line woesThe 2018 Texans offensive line struggles are well known, but the 2019 Texans may have the same issues partially due to injuries and inexperience.