FOXBORO, Mass. — Kyle Van Noy and Bill Belichick share a mutual appreciation for one another.
On Thursday — the two-year anniversary of his trade to the Patriots — Van Noy said landing in New England saved his career. One day later, Belichick spoke at length about what the veteran linebacker has brought to the team, saying he was surprised by the level of versatility Van Noy possessed when the Patriots acquired him midway through the 2016 season.
“Any time you get a player that you haven’t had before, it takes you a little while to get to know the player and figure out how he thinks, what skills he’s good at, what positions he can play and so forth,” the Patriots coach said Friday morning. “Kyle has turned out to be very versatile and very good at many things we’ve asked him to do, from the kicking game to playing on the line of scrimmage to playing off the line of scrimmage to blitzing to playing man coverage, zone coverage — multiple things. We didn’t know that.
“Some of it was a step-by-step process. A couple times we were forced into a situation because he is big, he is athletic, he is smart, he does have good football instincts. So a lot of times, he just does the right thing on something that maybe we haven’t gone over or hasn’t specifically been covered.”
Belichick compared Van Noy’s knack for making the right decision in the appropriate situation to that of safeties Patrick Chung and Devin McCourty and linebacker Dont’a Hightower — three of the Patriots’ longest-tenured defensive players.
“He just does what he thinks is right in that situation,” Belichick said. “Like Chung would do, like McCourty would do. Like a lot of good football players, they just know what do to, and I would say (Van Noy) is one of those. Hightower, those guys. Sometimes, they get in a situation that we haven’t really covered, and they just do the right thing because they’re just good, instinctive players. Kyle’s shown to be all of that, plus he’s given us good depth in the kicking game.”
Van Noy made a pivotal play in the kicking game Sunday, scooping up a Hightower blocked punt and returning it for a touchdown in a 38-31 win over the Chicago Bears.
“Not that he’s out there for every play in the kicking game, but he’s responsible for a lot of things, so if something happened and we needed him, he’d be ready to go,” Belichick said. “And when you’re a head coach or a special teams coach, that’s a comforting feeling. Even though he’s not out there for 30 plays in the kicking game, the fact that you know you have somebody dependable to put in that spot if it comes up is a lot better than having to worry about 66 spots and if one thing happens, (being) like ‘Oh my God, what are going to do?’ ”
A situational player for the Detroit Lions early in his career, Van Noy has played the most snaps of any Patriots front-seven defender since the start of the 2017 season. He ranks second on the team with 36 tackles through seven games this season.
“It seems like it’s gone fast and he’s played here 10 years,” Belichick said. “He’s certainly been in a lot of roles for us, done them well and has given us great communication and leadership on and off the field.”
