The Detroit Lions are zeroing in on a replacement a day after losing their defensive line coach to the New England Patriots.

The Lions are expected to hire Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive run game coordinator Kacy Rodgers as their new defensive line coach, ESPN reported.

Rodgers and Lions coach Dan Campbell spent five seasons working together on the same staff with the Miami Dolphins in 2010-14. Rodgers also was an assistant coach with the Dallas Cowboys during Campbell’s three seasons as a player with the team in 2003-05.

Lions defensive line coach Terrell Williams was named defensive coordinator of the New England Patriots on Wednesday, reuniting with his former boss with the Tennessee Titans, new Patriots coach Mike Vrabel.

The Lions finished fifth in the NFL in rush defense last season, but struggled to get pressure on opposing quarterbacks with their four-man front as injuries mounted on their defensive line in the second half of the year.

Starters Aidan Hutchinson (broken leg), Alim McNeill (torn ACL) and Marcus Davenport (torn triceps) suffered season-ending injuries, as did backups Mekhi Wingo, Kyle Peko and John Cominsky.

“When you’re down five defensive ends due to injury, then I don’t know who has a sixth, seventh and eighth effective pass rusher,” Lions general manager Brad Holmes said in his season-ending news conference Thursday. “So, when you get down that low, then, yes, you can say (our defensive line needs improvement) but when we were at full health, I thought our pass rush was pretty good.”

Rodgers reportedly was expected to interview for the same position with the Green Bay Packers. In 2021, after the Bucs beat the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LV, he was named the 2020 John Teerlink Defensive Line Coach of the Year.