The phrase has become so synonymous with the New England Patriots that it was the title of the NFL Films documentary on Bill Belichick and the 2014 Super Bowl champs. Now it appears as if the Detroit Lions have co-opted the slogan, “Do Your Job.”

Several Lions players and defensive line coach Bo Davis said this spring the organization has it posted inside its Allen Park practice facility.

“That’s one of the signs that, when you walk in the building, it says, ‘Do Your Job,'” Davis said last month.

While no one will say exactly where the sign is – “I don’t know if I’m allowed to tell you where it is,” quarterback Jake Rudock said – it’s no surprise the expression has taken hold in Detroit.

Both Lions General Manager Bob Quinn and first-year coach Matt Patricia worked under Belichick with the Patriots, and Patricia has spent much of the spring focused on fundamentals while he lays the foundation for his program. The Lions held their final practice of the spring on Thursday and have six weeks off before they report for training camp.

“It always comes down to being accountable to your teammates, and so many times you get caught up in everything else going on,” quarterback Matt Cassel said. “And I remember as a young guy, you always worry about, ‘Well, who’s getting the reps,’ and this, that and the other, and it takes you and distracts you away from just doing your job.

“And that’s the best part about this type of program, is the best guys are going to play and if you do your job and do it right you’re going to be on the field, and they’ve shown that time and time again”

Cassel said the motto “Do Your Job” was used during his time with the Patriots in 2005-08, and former NFL linebacker Willie McGinest said last year the expression actually predates Belichick in New England.

“It was started by the Kraft family and the type of character guys they brought in,” McGinest said during a ceremony last year at TD Garden. “We knew that there was a standard that we had to abide by. For us as players, we didn’t want to let each other down. We didn’t want to be the weak link. We didn’t want to be the cause of something not going the way it was supposed to go.”

Patricia has put an undeniable stamp on the Lions in his four months on the job. Yes, he has made players run, both as punishment for misdeeds on the field and as a form of conditioning, but his reach has extended to other areas.

Practices are fast-paced with little wasted movement. Player interviews are bland and unrevealing. Fullback Nick Bellore said there are “a lot of signs” throughout the Lions’ practice facility that have messages similar to “Do Your Job,” while Cassel called them “daily reminders” of goals and mindsets important to the team.

“I think some people on the outside may roll their eyes, but I think it’s something that I think we really take to heart and it’s something we see when we come in the facility and leave the facility,” Bellore said. “It all kind of boils down to accountability and if we’re all accountable, I think we can obviously have success.”

New England called teams to gauge interest in All-Pro tight end Rob Gronkowski as recently as three days before the NFL draft, according to a report from Pro Football Talk..

The report does not specify what the Patriots were seeking or whether a deal was close to happening.

A widely criticized rumor surfaced last week that the Patriots intended to trade Gronkowski and that owner Robert Kraft vetoed the deal. Kraft told reporters that the rumor was “hogwash” and completely false.

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