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Detroit cornerback Rashean Mathis, right, jaws with Darius Slay during a game last season.

(Melanie Maxwell | MLive.com)

ALLEN PARK -- When the Detroit Lions were wrapping up minicamp around noon last Thursday, town cars were already lined up to whisk players away to the far corners of the globe.

Detroit has the next month off, and players often use the early portions of that break to rest their bodies before the start of the annual grind in training camp. Many are already on a beach somewhere.

So are Rashean Mathis and Darius Slay.

But hold the pina coladas.

Mathis is continuing his mentorship of Slay this week by hosting the young cornerback at his Jacksonville home. And like a scene straight out of "Rocky," Mathis intends to do a lot of running along the beach with his protege.

"I'm Apollo Creed," Mathis said, "and right now, he's Rocky. I'm training him to take the title."

Mathis, 34, has been the Lions' top corner since signing with the club during training camp in 2013. He broke up another nine passes last year, picked off one and ranked as the 12th-best corner in the league according to ProFootballFocus.

But his value far exceeds the box score.

Mathis has taken on a big brother-type mentorship role with Slay, who has tremendous ability -- his 40-yard dash time was the second fastest among defensive backs at the past three combines -- but was incredibly raw when Detroit took him in the second round of the 2013 draft.

Slay has come a long way since then, though, rocketing from 92nd at the position as a rookie all the way to 19th according to PFF. He defended 18 passes while starting every game, and allowed a QB rating of just 81.1 on throws his way.

His maturation can be chalked up to his ability, of course, but also to mentors such as Mathis, who helped him hone the cerebral parts of the game.

"He's tireless," coach Jim Caldwell said. "There's probably not a time where you see (Mathis) standing over there and he's not talking to one of those other defensive backs, whether it's a safety and talking about a call back there, working out between the split of a receiver, or just talking to some of the younger corners and just talking to them about work habits and body position and technique and fundamentals.

"He's one of those guys that you certainly can see what he does in terms of the impact on the field, but he has a tremendous impact in our classrooms, in the building, outside of the building."

Mathis will be a long, long way from the building when he hosts Slay this week in Jacksonville. He lives only about a half-hour from Slay in the offseason, but this is the first time they've worked out together in the summer.

"I'll take him to the beach and do some beach work," Mathis said. "We'll do all types of stuff, and it's going to be fun. I was trying to get him down there the last couple years, but he hadn't made it down to work out.

"It's up to the coaches and guys like me -- veterans like me and (Glover Quin and James Ihedigbo) -- to show him that there is another level of play, and another level of consistency. And he respects that. He's young, and it's hard for young guys to grasp that. But he listens."

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