Patriots: Kyle Van Noy seems to take shot at Dolphins in opening press conference
By Mike Luciano
Former New England Patriots assistant Brian Flores has done a masterful job turning around the Miami Dolphins, but another offseason roster purge led to the release of linebacker Kyle Van Noy.
The former BYU star wasn’t on the market long before Bill Belichick swooped him back up.
Van Noy recorded 69 tackles and six sacks last year, but that didn’t stop Flores, who was Van Noy’s position coach in New England, from getting rid of him.
In an offseason that has seen New England spend money on Jalen Mills and Davon Godchaux on defense, Van Noy was the latest arrow they added to their quiver.
Van Noy, based on some of the answers that he gave in his first press conference during his second go-around with New England, doesn’t sound like he has a ton of love for Flores based on how his Miami tenure ended.
When asked by reporters how playing under Flores as a head coach was different than playing for him as a linebackers coach, Van Noy responded with “no comment.” It sounds like he didn’t really enjoy his time under Flores in Miami.
Asked when he thought he might be back in New England after being released, Kyle Van Noy said, "I think it started right away."
— Phil Perry (@PhilAPerry) March 24, 2021
On the difference between Brian Flores as a linebacker coach versus as a head coach: "No comment."
Kyle Van Noy is taking a massive discount to play for the Patriots.
Van Noy signed a four-year, $51 million contract with $30 million guaranteed last offseason in Miami, but he lasted just one season. He then agreed to a two-year, $12 million contract with New England. It’s easy to connect the dots on this one.
Van Noy is looking forward to New England’s two games against Miami this season, as he claims that his one year with the Dolphins in 2020 help him learn “everything they do down there” on both sides of the ball.
Van Noy sounds pretty motivated to face the Dolphins this season: "I know everything they do down there. It's going to be good." https://t.co/CzlK6uDmZS
— Zack Cox (@ZackCoxNESN) March 24, 2021
We respect the passion, Kyle, but Bill knows how to beat one of his former assistants … on a worse team … that he already beat last year.
On paper, Van Noy’s ability to both rush the passer and drop back in coverage, should’ve been an ideal fit in Flores’ defense. For one reason or another, Van Noy is back in New England, and he’s clearly chomping at the bit to play Miami again.
Flores’ failure with Van Noy is another sign that even the best Belichick players will falter once they leave the greatest coach of all time. Now that the linebacker is returning to a system that will put him in the best position to compete for a championship, we’ll find out if Flores’ decision to run Van Noy out of town comes back to bite him.
