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Current and former Lions players rejoice over Matt Patricia's firing on social media

The Detroit Lions finally called it on the Bob Quinn-Matt Patricia era of the team on Saturday, announcing they had fired their general manager and head coach following an embarrassing loss to the Houston Texans on Thanksgiving.

The decision comes after two and a half seasons of the pair working together, and represents yet another piece of evidence of how hard it is to transplant the “Patriot Way” from New England.

The aftermath also showed just how many Lions players, many of whom are now out of Detroit, loathed playing under their regime.

Plenty of former players were happy with Matt Patricia’s firing

Matt Patricia wasn't the most popular coach among his players with the Lions. (Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images)
Matt Patricia wasn't the most popular coach among his players with the Lions. (Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images)

Any NFL coach is bound to have rocky relationships with a few players while in charge of an organization, but Patricia seemed particularly prone to breeding animosity with his locker room. The man’s coaching style was notoriously strict with its players, with plenty happy to exit Detroit during his tenure.

We knew this before Patricia’s firing — some of his players held an impromptu mimosa party to celebrate the last day of his first season with the team — but it’s particularly obvious now.

For starters, you have the team’s star wide receiver Kenny Golladay liking the team’s announcement on Instagram.

The celebrations get more exuberant when you look at players who left Patricia and the Lions for whatever reason. Here’s one former Pro Bowl cornerback, who openly ripped the coach after a trade to the Philadelphia Eagles:

And a former linebacker:

And a former defensive lineman:

And another former defensive lineman:

The celebrations weren’t limited to Patricia’s firing though, as a former tight end decided to have a laugh over Quinn’s departure as well.

The Lions have a lot of pieces to pick up after the abject failure of the Quinn-Patricia regime, but it likely won’t be hard to find a leadership team players will like more. Being liked by players will never be the top priority for NFL coaches, but the pair wasn’t particularly good at the usual goal, winning, either.

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