Immediately after learning he’d be released by the Dolphins, linebacker Kyle Van Noy said he was “surprised and disappointed” by the decision.
Van Noy noted that he played through injuries and that he felt he lived up to expectations as a leader in his only season playing for head coach Brian Flores. Van Noy and Flores had been together with the Patriots before both made their way to Miami, but Van Noy’s response to a question about Flores after he returned to New England suggested it was not a positive experience.
Van Noy said “no comment” to a question about playing for Flores as an assistant rather than as a head coach. During an appearance on The Pat McAfee Show, Van Noy reiterated his surprise about the release and shared his reason for declining a comment about his former coach.
“Honestly, I’m just as shocked as you are about it,” Van Noy said, via WEEI. “I truly don’t know. And the no comment thing, it’s funny. I’m damned either way. I’m damned if I give him praise, I look disingenuous. I’m damned if I say negative things. I look like a salty you-know-what, and I just figured no comment was the best situation for that because now you can run it however you want.”
During the interview, Van Noy said he heard from every defensive coach and many players after his release while adding that he has “no hard feelings” about how things went down. That’s not quite how his other comments come across and Van Noy will have plenty of chances to prove the Dolphins wrong in 2021.