Miami Dolphins head coach Brian Flores won’t rule the Patriots out after their disappointing 2019 season.

INDIANAPOLIS – The Patriots are coming off their worst finish since the 2009 season. Tom Brady’s entering uncharted territory as a free agent. For the first time since the 2015 season, an AFC other than the Pats made it to the Super Bowl.

Is this it for the dynasty? Time for Bill Belichick and the franchise to rebuild?

Not exactly.

Although there are a handful of questions about the upcoming 2020 Patriots, there aren’t many coaches out there who are willing to count Belichick out. Take Brian Flores, for example. The Miami Dolphins head coach, who was a longtime assistant coach for Belichick, nearly laughed when asked if he thought the Patriots were vulnerable.

“No,” Flores said. “No, I don’t see them vulnerable.”

The Patriots have won the AFC East every season since 2011. That’s 11-striaght division titles. Life certainly would be easier for Flores or Adam Gase, the head coach of the New York Jets, if Brady left and the Patriots took a step back.

Gase knows that’ll be easier said than done.

“One of the other three teams has to go take it,” Gase said. “I think right now they’ve won the division so many times in a row. Coach Belichick has done a great job and his staff. One of us has to do a good job of outplaying those guys for a full season. It hasn’t been an easy thing to do.”

“I think our division is very competitive,” added Flores. “Obviously the Patriots, they’re well-coached and they’re tough to deal with. The Jets, they have a very talented roster. They’re well-coached as well. All those teams are tough. And obviously Buffalo, they made the playoffs last year so they’ve got a talented team as well. So yeah, I think it’s a very tough division.”

When asked if he thought the Patriots were vulnerable, Gase said he’d reserve judgment for after the offseason.

“It’s hard for me to even say anything,” Gase said. I don’t know what their team is going to look like until we start the season.”

mdaniels@providnecejournal.com

On Twitter: @MarkDanielsPJ