ALLEN PARK -- It was a Sunday morning in July, but it might as well have been Christmas to Matt Patricia. The new Lions coach beamed at the thought of what was about to come, just outside the facility and around the corner, on the sun-soaked fields lined with players breaking out their pads for the first time.
"This is obviously the most exciting time of the year," he said with a smile. "We can actually get real football out there."
It was a unique choice of words, given what he had planned for everyone. The phrase "real football" often comes laced in sarcasm regarding the NFL these days.