By Michael Stets
Over a dozen teams reached out for Mike Daniels’s services after he was cut by the Green Bay Packers last week. And after signing with the Lions on a one-year deal worth $9.1 million, the eight-year veteran revealed during his first media session that head coach Matt Patricia was the main reason he came to Detroit
Daniels, who hasn’t yet been a full participant in practice since donning his No.96 Lions jersey, was a guest on WJR’s The Mitch Albom Show on Thursday, and he continued to heap praise on the second-year Lions head coach.
“I’ve always had a lot of respect for coach Patricia,” Daniels said. “Quite frankly, I don’t think he’s gotten a lot of the credit he deserves throughout his tenure with the Patriots.”
He added: “I’m a defensive guy. So I watch defense. There’s times where the [Patriots] defense has saved their offense a lot. I remember playing against them and the big point was: you gotta stop Tom [Brady] and then it’s going to be a tough game against the defense.”
Daniels joins a defensive line that is looking pretty nasty on paper. He’ll be lining up with defensive players like Damon “Snacks” Harrison, who joined the team last year after a trade with the New York Giants, Trey Flowers, who signed with the team this offseason after playing his first four seasons with the New England Patriots and Da’Shawn Hand, the Lions’ 2018 fourth-round pick out of Alabama who turned in a solid rookie campaign.
Of course, with Flowers on the PUP list and Harrison on the NFI, we still have to see how they all work together and gel on the field, but Daniels told Mitch Albom that Patricia is building something special with the defense, and joining the Lions gives him the chance to be a part of it all.
“I just look at it as an opportunity to be on a dominant defense and that’s what he is putting together. I look at our linebackers, our edge guys, the interior line, defensive backs, everybody has an edge, everybody plays with an attitude and I love it.”
The for the full Mike Daniels appearance on The Mitch Albom Show is located below: