Anleitungen » The expected hiring of the defensive coordinator came

The Detroit Lions hired Matt Patricia on Monday Christian Miller Jersey , doubling down on the franchise’s hope it can copy the New England Patriots’ formula for success.


”This position comes with great responsibility, and I will commit every ounce of my energy to this football team, starting today,” Patricia said in a statement released by the team.

Lions general manager Bob Quinn made the move, reuniting with someone he worked with in New England for more than a decade.

”He has been preparing for this opportunity his entire career, and he’s ready for the responsibility and its challenges,” Quinn said.

The Lions plan to formally introduce him at a news conference Wednesday.

Quinn fired coach Jim Caldwell last month with a record eight games above .500 over four years and postseason appearances in 2016 and 2014. The Lions went 9-7 this season and missed the playoffs.

Patricia was the Patriots’ defensive coordinator for six seasons, ending with his unit giving up 41 points and 538 yards to the Eagles.

”Obviously, I didn’t do a good enough job here with the defense,” he told reporters Sunday night.

The 43-year-old Patricia was on Bill Belichick’s staff for 14 seasons, overlapping with Quinn for many years. Quinn was a part of the Patriots’ personnel department for 16 years before Detroit gave him his first shot to be an NFL GM.

He cuts a distinctive figure on the sideline, with a bushy beard, backward ball cap and a pencil above his right ear.

Patricia earned an aeronautical engineering degree at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, where he played center and guard, and later went to the University of Massachusetts to add a master’s degree in education to his resume. While trying to figure out which career path to follow, the native of Sherrill, New York Jordan Scarlett Jersey , was an aeronautical engineer for two years.

His climb includes being a graduate assistant at RPI and Syracuse and coaching the defensive line at Amherst College.

Belichick hired Patricia in 2004 as a coaching assistant, was an assistant offensive line coach the next season and worked his way up, leading linebackers and safeties, before being to defensive coordinator in 2012.

Patricia said he tries to learn something from everybody all the time, including Belichick.

”He’s been a remarkable mentor to me, not only as a football coach but also as a man and as a friend,” Patricia said. ”I have learned immensely from his detailed leadership approach to the game, which has certainly shaped me into the football coach that I am today. Quite simply, I’ve been incredibly fortunate to work with, who I believe, is the greatest coach in NFL history.”

Patricia’s top task in Detroit may be helping it establish a good running game.

The Lions ranked among the worst the NFL’s worst in rushing offense in each of the previous four years under coach Caldwell, who was fired last month with a 36-28 record, plus two postseason losses with the franchise.

Like Jim Leyland did as Detroit Tigers manager, Patricia made a point to connect with New England’s players before each game, usually with a handshake on the sideline.

”It just lets us know he has our back,” safety Duron Harmon has said. ”He has our back.”

While the Lions also interviewed Mike Vrabel, who was hired by the Tennessee Titans David Montgomery Jersey , they seemed to want Patricia from the start of their coaching search.

The feeling was apparently mutual because Patricia may have turned down a shot to lead the New York Giants after interviewing with the four-time, Super Bowl-winning franchise, to take on a challenge in a city that has experienced only one playoff win since winning the 1957 NFL title.

”Now I turn all of my attention to the Lions,” Patricia said. ”I look forward to the next chapter of my career in Detroit.”

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Kevin Durant had 37 points, 11 rebounds and four blocked shots and almost single-handedly led the undermanned Golden State Warriors‘ fourth-quarter rally past the San Antonio Spurs for a 110-107 win after Stephen Curry went down early.

Curry was lost for the night to a rolled right ankle early in the first quarter, but the Warriors responded without their two-time MVP to win their seventh straight since the All-Star break.

Curry tweaked his troublesome right ankle driving left for a layup at the 9:38 mark of the first quarter with two Spurs around him. He limped into the tunnel grimacing in pain and frustration, then initially stayed in the game to shoot free throws before heading to the locker room. The team said he was getting re-taped and going through tests, then Curry didn’t return – but the Warriors are going to be cautious at this stage of the season with the playoffs beginning next month.

Curry missed 11 games in December with the sprained right ankle and injured it again last Friday at Atlanta. He won’t travel or play at Portland on Friday.

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – The Boston Celtics were breathing a little easier after beating Minnesota on Thursday night, and their relief was about more than just the outcome.

Jaylen Brown, who landed hard on his back and head following a dunk late in the third quarter, was going to be all right.

Brown lost his grip on the rim as he finished the play, falling awkwardly ”in full backflip mode” as Kyrie Irving put it, to the court with 1:31 remaining in the period. Brown stayed down and was still for several minutes, and a stretcher was rushed out. But Brown was eventually able to walk slowly to the locker room on his own, and the crowd at Target Center gave him a standing ovation.

After he was evaluated for concussion-like symptoms, Brown was taken to a hospital for a CT scan and other testing, coach Brad Stevens said.

MINNEAPOLIS – Derrick Rose signed with the Minnesota Timberwolves in a move that reunites the 2011 NBA MVP with three mainstays from his days in Chicago – coach Tom Thibodeau Riley Ridley Jersey , as well as Jimmy Butler and Taj Gibson. The Timberwolves did not release the terms, but a person familiar with the situation told The Associated Press that the deal is for the remainder of the season.

Minnesota will be the fourth team Rose plays for, and technically his fourth franchise in the last 11 months. Rose spent his first eight NBA years in Chicago, five of those with Thibodeau as his coach. He was with New York last season and started this season with Cleveland, but appeared in only 16 games with the Cavaliers largely because of injuries.

TENNIS

INDIAN WELLS, Calif. (AP) – Serena Williams won her first match in her comeback at the BNP Paribas Open after a 14-month layoff for the birth of her first child.

The 23-time major winner defeated Zarina Diyas of Kazakhstan 7-5, 6-3 in the first round.

With new husband and Reddit co-found Alexis Ohanian looking on, Williams played from behind until breaking Diyas in the 11th game of the first set. Diyas netted a forehand and Williams yelled, ”Come on!” as the crowd cheered.

Williams served a love game capped by a 100-mph ace in her first service game. She had break points in the first and fifth games but couldn’t convert. She started hitting harder and her familiar grunting returned when she tied the set 5-all.

Diyas and Williams traded service breaks early in the second set. Williams then broke her opponent again en route to winning the final five games. She smiled as she walked to the net, and her family gave her a standing ovation.

GOLF

PALM HARBOR, Fla. (AP) – Tiger Woods discovered how tough Innisbrook can be in a swirling wind, and he was up to the task.

Woods smacked his hands into an oak as he let loose of the club during a bold escape from the trees, came within inches of an ace on the next hole, and most importantly was among 27 players – just under 20 percent of the field – to break par in the Valspar Championship.

Canadian rookie Corey Conners, who got into the field as an alternate not long after he failed to get through Monday qualifying, didn’t make a bogey until his final hole at No. 9 and shot a 4-under 67.

That gave him a one-shot lead over Nick Watney, Whee Kim and Kelly Kraft. Only three other players Greedy Williams Jersey , including former PGA champion Jimmy Walker broke 70.

Woods made five birdies to counter his mistakes in his round of 70, the first time he broke par in the opening round of a PGA Tour event since his 64 in the Wyndham Championship in August 2015 – just six tour events ago because of back surgeries.

This was his first time playing the Valspar Championship.

PRO FOOTBALL

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (AP) – A person with knowledge of the deal told The Associated Press that the Denver Broncos agreed to trade star cornerback Aqib Talib to the Los Angeles Rams.

The person, speaking on condition of anonymity because the trade isn’t official until the start of the new league year Wednesday, said the Rams will send Denver a mid-round pick, believed to be a fifth-rounder, in next month’s draft for the perennial Pro Bowl cornerback.

The NFL Network first reported the agreement Thursday. The Broncos had been in talks with the Patriots, 49ers and Rams about Talib, who signed a six-year, $57 million deal in Denver in 2014, part of a defensive makeover that carried the team to the Super Bowl title two years ago.

In Los Angeles, Talib will reunite with Wade Phillips, who was his defensive coordinator in Denver, and will play alongside fellow star cornerback Marcus Peters, whom the Rams are acquiring from Kansas City.

NEW YORK (A