Lions head coach Matt Patricia held a press conference on Wednesday that was largely focused on the team’s decision to trade wide receiver Golden Tate to the Eagles for a third-round pick.
Patricia was asked a series of questions about the thought process behind trading a key member of the offense at a moment when the Lions are a game behind the Bears in the NFC North. Patricia said he can remember “multiple different examples” when teams were able to keep winning after saying farewell to players and noted that it is “about all the parts” rather than just one person.
“When we evaluate everything we do as a franchise, we think there is certain value we can get at times during the season that will help us long term,” Patricia said, via MLive.com. “And we obviously have faith and confidence in the people that are on this team right now. So we put all that into play and try to make sure we’re making the best decision we can in that moment, and it’s hard -- it’s very difficult -- when you’re in that one-game-at-a-time mind set. And that’s where we are from the standpoint, it’s week to week for us and that’s good, but there’s also a big picture here that we keep an eye on as we move forward, and that’s something we have to consider when we make all these decisions -- whether it’s during the season, during the offseason, free agency, draft, whatever it is. Those are difficult decisions whenever they come.”
Patricia was also asked about the reaction to the trade in the locker room and said that the team was “very open and honest” about the deal with players without shedding light on any response from those players. Patricia’s answer also stressed the need to “turn the page” from the trade to Sunday’s game against the Vikings, which will provide the first test of whether the Lions will be one of Patricia’s examples of teams thriving after trading away a starter.
