Ex-Patriot Kyle Van Noy says the ‘honeymoon’s over’ in New England
Van Noy's Dolphins knocked the Patriots out of playoff contention on Sunday.
Dolphins linebacker Kyle Van Noy is taking some joy in ending his former team’s historic run.
With their 22-12 win on Sunday, the Dolphins knocked the Patriots out of playoff contention, marking the first time since 2008 that New England will not play in the postseason. After losing to the Patriots 21-11 in the season-opener, there seemed to be some extra pride in the Dolphins’ locker room in getting revenge.
“They kind of schemed us up the first time,” Kyle Van Noy told Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated. “I’m going to keep it real. They thought everything was good…if that makes sense. They were all laughing and joking. We remembered that, and we’re in a different situation than they were. They were basically already eliminated. We just needed to basically finish it, and we did that today.
“I think the honeymoon’s over. We got the job done.”
The Week 1 loss was still on Van Noy’s mind when they were celebrating Sunday’s win; Van Noy told Breer that he believed it had been 99 days since that loss (Breer notes in his column that it was actually 98 days). Van Noy had three tackles in Sunday’s game and nearly picked off Cam Newton.
After four seasons as a Patriot, Van Noy ditched New England for Miami this past offseason, signing a four-year deal that reunited him with Brian Flores. The former Patriots defensive play-caller is one of the few Bill Belichick assistants that’s had success as a head coach. Flores’s Dolphins are 9-5 and are on the brink of their first playoff appearance since 2016.
Van Noy seems to be happy with his new head coach.
“He’s not trying to be anybody else. He’s trying to be himself,” Van Noy told Breer. “And I think that’s what you want. He’s going to give you love when you deserve it, but he’s also going to get after you when you deserve it as well. I feel like he’s doing a great job. I respect him. One thing that I’ve noticed is the way he handles himself from the top down. The way he takes care of the trainers, the training staff, the janitors, everybody to the owner. It’s nothing but first-class. He’s doing a great job, and he’s having a mentality you can’t teach.
“He’s got it.”
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