Flowers got what he wanted
Linebacker likes his place on Pats defense
ORLANDO, Fla. — Marquis Flowers took a dip into free agency, generated some interest, but knew all along where he wanted to end up.
“I kept telling my agent ‘I want to go back to New England,’ ” Flowers said during a phone interview this week.
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Flowers had his reasons, and it wasn’t all about landing the best payday, like some other free agents who left the Patriots. This was about continuing what the coaching staff had done for the linebacker’s career in one short season.
It’s what Bill Belichick & Co. have done for plenty other players who are undervalued on other teams, then turn into so much more with the Patriots. They keep finding players like Flowers, or Kyle Van Noy, or Rob Ninkovich, who’ve been under-utilized and make so much more out of them.
Flowers, a sixth-round pick by Cincinnati in 2014, was basically a core special teams player there before being traded to the Pats last year. He got his first real taste of a significant role halfway through the season.
He became a regular member of the linebacker rotation next to Van Noy over the final eight weeks of the regular season.
“Obviously, my first few years in Cincinnati didn’t go as planned. With me not playing, I feel I didn’t develop enough as a player,” Flowers said. “I feel like the Patriots, once I got traded there, I learned so much in a short period of time. I wanted to go back, and get more of it. But this time, I wanted to get the full OTAs, and get the full training camp.”
Flowers arrived in a trade a week before the season started, so he never got the benefit of any offseason work. He learned the defense on the fly, with help from then defensive coordinator Matt Patricia, linebackers coach Brian Flores and his teammates.
And he got the job done.
In Week 16, in his second start, Flowers recorded a team-high 10 tackles and 2.5 sacks in a 37-16 win over the Bills.
“From coach Flores, being with him, developing that relationship, coach Bill, and all the defensive coaches over there, I just know I can become the player I want to be,” said Flowers.
Before hitting free agency, he sat down with Flores about the importance of camp, and attacking his weaknesses.
“We had a nice little talk, about getting a full training camp, and building on what I’ve done,” said Flowers, “because nobody out there knows me like the Patriots know me. They gave me a chance to play. No coaching staff knows me like coach Bill and coach Flores. And Matt Patricia. That really stuck with me. So I definitely wanted to come back.”
Of course, the Lions, where Patricia is now the head coach, were one of the teams that made a run at Flowers in free agency, but the Patriots won out, signing him to a one-year deal worth up to $2.55 million.
This is essentially how the Patriots keep the ball rolling and sustain success. It’s part of the formula. They have a knack for identifying players like Flowers, bringing them into the fold and coaching them to greater heights.
“You have to credit the Patriots organization for finding players like this who are undervalued or not really getting the opportunities, and then really develop them and turn them into playmakers,” said Flowers’ agent, Sean Stellato.
The Arizona native said Flores, now the defensive coordinator in waiting, kept telling him they just scratched the surface of his potential as a linebacker.
“I came in, bought into the Patriot Way. They just kept putting me in spots, trying to utilize my strengths in certain situations,” he said. “Coach Bill did a great job bringing me along. But now I get to install with everybody else. I’m just excited I get a fresh start with everything. I’m even going to get to see the city more. I’m excited about all of that.”
Flowers, who lives and trains on the West Coast, will return in a few weeks for the start of the offseason program. He said the defense is anxious to turn the page on the Super Bowl.
“When we come back, it’s a challenge to do better than what we done,” he said. “I wouldn’t say (we have) unfinished business. The one thing about this league, the one thing about this game, we’re never going to get Super Bowl LII back. We did what we could do. We have to learn from it, get better from it. Hats off to the Eagles. We’re coming in with a whole new team. We lost some guys. We got some guys. So it’s a new team, a new mindset. We’re going to go out and try to succeed from there.”