Bill Belichick: Detroit Lions enjoying 'fruits of the labor' from Matt Patricia

Matt Patricia has one of the worst records of any head coach in Detroit Lions history, but legendary former NFL coach Bill Belichick said the organization owes at least a small debt of gratitude to Patricia for its current state as Super Bowl contenders.

Speaking on Monday's edition of the "Let's Go" podcast with Jim Gray, Belichick credited his former assistant coach with the New England Patriots for starting to build a Lions' offensive line that's considered one of the best in the NFL.

Responding to a question by quarterback Tom Brady about what teams besides the Kansas City Chiefs have "got it going" right now, Belichick mentioned the Dallas Cowboys and Philadelphia Eagles before turning to the Lions.

"I think that the Lions have built a really good offensive line for their quarterback, and they couldn't get a lot of production in the red area last week but that's something that Matt Patricia started and now they're kind of getting the fruits of the labor from him," Belichick said.

TAKE IT EASY: Don't panic over early-season loss — Detroit Lions have been here before

The Lions have three Pro Bowl players on their offensive line in Penei Sewel, Frank Ragnow and Kevin Zeitler, and two more homegrown talents in Taylor Decker and Graham Glasgow.

Decker and Glasgow were 2016 draft picks by then-Lions general manager Bob Quinn, at a time Patricia still was defensive coordinator of the Patriots. The Lions drafted Ragnow in 2018, when Quinn was GM and Patricia was in his first season as head coach. And current Lions GM Brad Holmes drafted Penei Sewell in 2021 and signed Zeitler in free agency this spring.

Glasgow played his first four seasons in Detroit, but Patricia and Quinn declined to offer him a competitive contract when he hit free agency after the 2019 season because they did not believe in spending big money on guards. He re-signed with the Lions last year.

Patricia went 13-29-1 in two-plus seasons as Lions head coach before he was fired in November of 2020 . He has the fourth-lowest win percentage (.314) of any full-time Lions coach in the Super Bowl era, behind Marty Mornhinweg (.156), Rod Marinelli (.208) and Darryl Rogers (.310).

Patricia spent 14 years working for Belichick before he was hired by the Lions and considers Belichick a mentor and close friend. He appeared as a co-host on the first episode of Belchick's new web series, "COACH."

Belichick also mentioned the Houston Texans, who are run by former Patriots executive Nick Caserio, as one of the NFL's best-managed teams.

Dave Birkett is the author of the new book, " Detroit Lions : An Illustrated Timeline." Preorder it now from Reedy Press .

Contact him at dbirkett@freepress.com . Follow him on X and Instagram at @davebirkett.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Bill Belichick: Detroit Lions enjoying 'fruits of the labor' from Matt Patricia