Matt Patricia is finally ready to do what Lions fans desperately want but have not seen from the rookie head coach so far: win some football games. Patricia had little interest in the scoreboard or the mechanics of prepping a game plan for an opponent, or making adjustments and audibles during the preseason.

Now that the preseason is over, so is the emphasis on player evaluation. The Lions coach declared as much during his press conference on Labor Day.

“But really at this point, we start to transition into the next phase, which is specifically trying to game plan for an opponent, the Jets here, on a long week,” Patricia stated.

After talking a bit about the Jets and the difference of playing on Monday instead of Sunday, the rookie coach brought up his radical shift in philosophy from preseason to regular season.

“So, it’s just a completely different mindset,” Patricia said. “We really start diving into scheme from that standpoint and really work on what exactly is going to help us win in the game as opposed to really just player evaluation.”

He reiterated the same point in a later question, noting:

“I think we try to evaluate the players, that was really our biggest point of emphasis here as we go through training camp.”

For those who worried about the lackluster (to be kind) performance in the preseason, this is Patricia’s acknowledgment he wasn’t really trying to win games or do anything other than seeing his players work and react.

How about the defense, which struggled badly in the exhibition games?

“Well, the season will change,” Patricia quipped. “You guys have been at practice every day. You guys have seen quite a bit. I think you guys can evaluate what you’ve seen out on the field from practice and some of the different looks maybe that we’ve had. But for me, the defense will change.”

The coach said this in different forms throughout the preseason too, but now he’s got his chance to prove it.