Lions hope Patricia ends their search for a winner
ALLEN PARK, MICH. » The Detroit Lions desperately hope Matt Patricia ends their decades-long search for a coach who can help them have success in the playoffs.
Patricia, with his previously bushy beard trimmed, had his first news conference Wednesday on the team’s indoor practice field. “This is a dream come true,” he said.
The 43-year-old Patricia helped New England win three Super Bowls over 14 years. He was the Patriots’ defensive coordinator the past six seasons. Patricia and Lions general manager Bob Quinn worked together for a dozen years in New England.
Detroit has been searching for decades to find a coach who can help the franchise have success in the playoffs and at least appear in the Super Bowl for the first time.
“Our goal is to win and to compete for championships and I believe we’re taking the next step,” team president Rod Wood said.
Patricia, who is from Sherrill, N.Y., has taken a unique path in his career. He earned an aeronautical engineering degree at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and a master’s degree in education from the University of Massachusetts.
Prosecutor: Trump’s comments ‘ghoulish’
INDIANAPOLIS » An Indiana prosecutor blasted President Donald Trump for politicizing the case of an immigrant illegally living in the U.S. and charged in a drunken crash that killed Colts linebacker Edwin Jackson and another man, saying his and others’ comments were “ghoulish and inappropriate.”
Marion County Prosecutor Terry Curry said his office would “vigorously prosecute” the case regardless of the suspect’s immigration status. Curry criticized Trump and others who cited the case as part of the nation’s immigration debate, noting that “two innocent men lost their lives in this horrible incident.”
Curry filed felony charges against the suspect, Manuel Orrego-Savala, a citizen of Guatemala who has twice been deported from the U.S. Orrego-Savala is accused of driving the truck that hit Jackson and his Uber driver, 54-yearold Jeffrey Monroe, early Sunday in Indianapolis.
“We are disheartened that ghoulish and inappropriate public commentary has politicized this tragedy,” Curry, a Democrat, said. “Much of such commentary, including tweets by the president, fails to acknowledge that both Edwin Jackson and Jeffrey Monroe lost their lives on Sunday. We will simply seek justice on behalf of the families of those two victims.”