If Matt Patricia has a deal in place to become the next head coach of the Detroit Lions, he’s not saying.

Patricia, the New England Patriots' defensive coordinator, declined to address reports that he will be the next Lions coach during a Monday teleconference.

“I’m really just in the same place as I was last week,” Patricia said. “I went through the process that the NFL allows us to go through and during the bye week I was able to have the opportunity to talk to a couple teams, which I did, and then quickly turn my focus to a very good Tennessee team and now I’m onto a very dangerous Jacksonville team.”

The Lions are expected to hire Patricia as their next head coach once the Patriots’ season ends sometime in the next three weeks. For now, they’re forbidden from finalizing a contract with him according to the NFL’s tampering rules.

It has been nearly two weeks since the Lions started the interview process with in-house candidates Teryl Austin and Jim Bob Cooter, and 10 days since they concluded it by interviewing Patricia.

Four other head coaching jobs remain open after the Tennessee Titans fired Mike Mularkey as head coach on Monday. Patricia has interviewed for two of those openings — with the New York Giants and Arizona Cardinals — and both teams appear content moving on to other candidates.

Patricia, 43, has a longstanding relationship with Lions general manager Bob Quinn, and in Detroit, he’ll take over a playoff-caliber team with Matthew Stafford at quarterback and a defense he can tweak to his liking.

The Patriots finished 25th in the NFL in total defense this season, but fifth in scoring defense, and have ranked in the top 10 in scoring in each of Patricia’s six seasons as coordinator.

They allowed a 95-yard touchdown drive in the first quarter of Saturday’s 35-14 playoff win over the Titans, then kept Tennessee off the scoreboard until 1:55 remained in the game.

The Patriots had eight sacks and held the Titans to 65 yards rushing.

The Patriots host the Jacksonville Jaguars this week in the AFC Championship Game. The Jaguars were a surprise winner over the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday.

“I think Saturday night, I think (our defense) did a good job trying to execute the gameplan for the most part,” Patricia said. “There was certainly some instances where we could have been better and maybe a little bit more consistent and we’re going to try to make sure we improve on those areas.”

If the Patriots win Sunday, the Lions can meet with Patricia for a second interview next week but can’t hire him until after the Feb. 4 Super Bowl.

If the Patriots lose against the Jaguars, Patricia can be hired immediately and should be introduced as Lions coach next week.

“There’s a process involved with that,” Patricia said. “There’s things that the league sets out, guidelines, and I followed those when I could and fortunately the good part about it for me is those are set up so that I can really focus on my job that I need to do and that’s getting ready for Jacksonville.”