Detroit — Bill Belichick has a chance to knock off another branch from his coaching tree.

The five-time Super Bowl-winning coach has had his staff trimmed by NFL teams many times.

They all hired coaches who know how Belichick and the New England Patriots operate behind closed doors, banking on them being able to duplicate the formula for success.

It hasn't worked out that well.

Eight former Belichick assistants have been hired by NFL teams and Al Groh is the only one in the group with a winning record. Groh was 9-7 in his one and only season with the New York Jets in 2000.

Belichick either does not know, or will not say, why he thinks his former assistants have struggled leading teams in the league.

"I'm not in the analytics business," he bristled.

The track record of Belichick assistants did not deter Detroit because general manager Bob Quinn, a former member of Belichick's front office, hired Matt Patricia soon after New England lost the Super Bowl.

If the Belichick-Patricia reunion goes as expected, it will follow a trend and teacher will school the student Sunday night in Detroit.

Belichick beat the Bill O'Brien-led Houston Texans in Week 1, making him 14-8 against assistants who worked for him in New England or Cleveland.

Even though the Patriots (1-1) are scuffling a bit on both sides of the ball by their standards, the Lions (0-2) have looked simply lost at times under Patricia and they're expected to lose by about a touchdown.

Before and after the game, there's a chance Patricia will be embraced more by his former players than his current ones.

"Matty P, he's a coach who always had high expectations," New England linebacker Dont'a Hightower said.

"But at the same time, he was definitely a player's coach. He was definitely somebody who, once you get outside those doors, he was a guy who you could text or call and had a question — not even necessarily about football — but just life in general."

And in general, Patricia deflects questions just as his mentor does in public. Patricia has no interest in sharing what parts of his scheme with the Lions mirrors what was done in New England.

"We're trying to build Detroit here," he said.

And, Belichick refused to say how much he has kept in touch with Patricia over the past several months.

"I'll keep that on a personal level," he said.

• Three key players may miss the game because of concussions: Detroit cornerback Darius Slay, New England defensive end Trey Flowers and safety Patrick Chung. All three players did not practice Wednesday or Thursday.