Free Press sports writers Dave Birkett and Carlos Monarrez preview the Detroit Lions' game against the New England Patriots. Dave Birkett and Carlos Monarrez, Detroit Free Press
Of course they’re alike. After 14 years together, how could they not be?
Their coaching styles. Their mannerisms. Everything down to the way they answered questions about each other in the days leading up to the first head-to-head meeting of their careers Sunday at Ford Field.
If Bill Belichick saw any of himself in a young Matt Patricia when he hired Patricia to be a grunt assistant in the winter of 2004, or as Patricia climbed the ranks of Belichick’s New England Patriots coaching staff in the years that followed, he wasn’t saying in a conference call with Detroit reporters this week.