Detroit Lions head coach Matt Patricia spoke to the media Monday following Detroit's 31-26 victory over the New York Giants on Sunday.
Here are the key questions to come out of his weekly Monday media session:
How is safety Tracy Walker's health after leaving Sunday with a knee injury?
Walker left in the third quarter and did not return.
"As far as Tracy is concerned, we'll take another look at him tomorrow, but right now he is day by day," Patricia said. "And we'll just see how he progresses through the week and go from there."
Walker is Detroit's leading tackler on the season (56), and is the first defensive back in the NFL since 2012 to post at least 55 tackles, one interception and one forced fumble in a team's first seven games.
How does Tuesday's trade deadline change this week's schedule?
The deadline is 4 p.m. on Tuesday. Patricia said the coaching staff is trying to keep this as normal a week as possible in terms of their preparations because they don't know Oakland very well, and it's always difficult traveling and playing out west.
Patricia said the coaches operate as normal unless there's something significant in the works that might come up, and then they'll watch film on a player or give an evaluation or offer up their opinions to GM Bob Quinn and his staff, if asked to do so. When that's done, they'll switch right back to the preparation part of the week.
Is there any update on cornerback Darius Slay?
The Pro Bowl cornerback missed Sunday's game due to a hamstring injury, and his name has been rumored to have drawn some trade interest around the league.
"We're pushing forward like normal," Patricia said. "Saw Slay this morning. He was in and got some treatment and is ready to go. He actually gave me a really good scouting report on Oakland, so we're just kind of pushing forward as normal."
Patricia said teams call on a lot of players at the deadline, and Quinn gives them the standard answer and the team moves forward. He lets Quinn and his staff handle that stuff.
What did Patricia think of Da’Shawn Hand's debut?
The talented second-year defensive lineman made his 2019 debut after missing the first six games with an elbow injury. He played 54 percent of the defensive snaps and finished with four tackles and a pass defended.
"I think he did a good job in the game for his first action," Patricia said. "Had good energy. I thought he played with good pad level. I thought overall I was pleased with his ability to play the game, play it at a high level and be able to make the corrections during the game."
How did the safety play look?
The Lions traded starter Quandre Diggs earlier in the week and needed players like Tavon Wilson, Will Harris and C.J. Moore to step up and play more. What did the film show of their performance?
"It was good," Patricia said. "There were some good things. There were some things out there we need to address some things from a communication standpoint."
Patricia thinks the biggest lapses on the back end were communication issues, which isn't surprising given new players getting extended minutes.
"A couple different formations late in the game. A couple different motions," he said. "Just making sure that communication is cleaner."
What did Patricia think of the rushing attack?
The Lions rushed 25 times for 59 yards for only a 2.4 average per rush. The team placed starter Kerryon Johnson on IR earlier in the week, and went with a running-back-by-committee approach with their backups against the Giants with little success.
"I thought early in the game we had some pretty good runs. I thought the runs were pretty-well blocked," he said. "I thought we tried to run physical.
"Early there were a couple plays where we just maybe had too much penetration on a couple runs and we had to make a second cut and maybe it took us out of some spacing where we thought we could have got some extra yards. I do feel that it can be better. We can improve on it."
