Before Matt Patricia was the Lions head coach he served as a Patriots assistant from 2004-2017, and was the defensive coordinator for the final six seasons. We mention this because at the NFL owners meetings on Tuesday Patricia told one of his favorite Rob Gronkowski stories; Gronk, who played nine seasons for New England and is destined for the Hall of Fame, announced his retirement on Sunday.

"We do a goal-line seven-on-seven period every day in Friday practice," Patricia explained during breakfast at the Arizona Biltmore. "I would usually stand over the cans -- we'd put the trash cans out there as the O-line -- and they'd be running crossing routes. And a lot of times, when you're doing seven-on-seven passing plays, advantage goes to the offense. So being a defensive coach, I was trying to make it as difficult as possible. So Rob is running a crossing route behind me, and I knew he was. So I took the garbage can, and I just slung it backwards, and I caught him right between the legs.

"He goes down. Hard. And he's laying on the ground, and he's not getting up," Patricia continued. "I'm like, 'This is the Friday before a game. That's it. I'm done. Gronk's not getting up. This is about it (for me). And he was playing it off. He was fine. I was like, 'Get up right now before I get fired. What are you doing?'

"So yeah. Great guy."

Patricia's not joking. He told another story about the happy-go-lucky Gronkowski.

"I was just telling someone the other day, I used to love after practices in training camp," the coach said, via MLive.com's Kyle Meinke. "My kids would run on the field, and he had to throw one of my kids on his back to do extra push-ups, to get the extra edge. I guess he needed another 45 or 50 pounds to do some push-ups, and he had that playfulness about him that was sincere.

"Loved working with that guy every day. We got into some situations where we would be going back and forth, and just a lot of fun. Great player, better person. And whatever career he decides to go into, he's going to be successful. And I still don't rule out the possibility of having to see him on Sundays either."

Reports emerged last September that the Lions almost landed Gronkowski in a trade but he threatened to retire. Detroit heads into next month's draft with needs at edge rusher and ... tight end. And depending on how things unfold in front of them, they could target one of the best players in the draft, Iowa tight end T.J. Hockenson with the No. 8 overall pick.