Gronk’s up for Jags challenge
FOXBORO — As Devin McCourty wrapped up his press conference yesterday at the Gillette Stadium podium, he was asked how tough of a matchup Rob Gronkowski is in practice.
The reporter began his question with a statement: “Gronk has been able to do anything he wants against safeties and corners.”
But before he could finish, McCourty had to make a quick correction.
“Remember, I told you, he doesn’t do that against us,” McCourty said of Gronkowski.
The Patriots safety clarified that it’s no easy task to defend the star tight end, something the Jaguars are quickly learning ahead of Sunday’s AFC Championship Game. But he wasn’t afraid to imply that Gronk is, in fact, stoppable, despite what he’s shown on the field this season, another All-Pro year.
“When you’re in one-onone situations, there’s no better tight end in the NFL and I think everybody on the field knows that, and a lot of times you have him one-on-one and the ball is coming to him,” McCourty said. “But you get some good work when you see a guy every day. You can start working on knowing what he does and all those things.
“So, like I always say, we shut him down every day in practice.”
That’s obviously far easier said than done for any upcoming opponent. When it was inferred yesterday to Jaguars coach Doug Marrone that Gronkowski is a “matchup nightmare for anybody” when he was asked about the tight end, he had to agree.
“Yeah, I think that’s probably a good way to describe it — a nightmare,” Marrone said. “I just don’t know if there’s any great answer to matching up with him. You’ve seen it now for how long? People have tried all these different things, but at the end of the day, he’s still able to perform in his production.”
The Jaguars actually have been among the NFL’s best in defending tight ends this season. Their 616 yards allowed and four touchdowns allowed in the regular season both ranked in the top five. But they obviously haven’t had to go up against Gronkowski, probably the best tight end of his generation.
Even for the Jags’ toprated defense, Gronkowski is a load. Their linebackers are quick, but even as Marrone admitted, they may not have enough.
“He’s an outstanding player and you just hope that what you’re doing or how you defend him — I don’t know if you could ever limit him but maybe where it doesn’t hurt you,” Marrone said. “But that’s a very, very difficult thing to do. He’s an outstanding player.”
The respect is warranted, but also not one-sided. Gronkowski understands what type of defense the Jaguars have, and he’s not expecting anything to come easy on Sunday.
“They’re competitive,” Gronkowski said. “Very, very competitive defense. Fast, tough, physical and like I said, competitive. So you gotta be ready to bring it, gotta be ready to play, gotta be ready to make tough plays. There aren’t going to be any easy, open plays or wide-open plays. They’re going to be tough, contested plays we’ll have to make, and they’re just competitive.
“It’s a big challenge. They got very talented players on both sides of the ball, especially on the defense. They have many, many great players, and it’s gonna be a big challenge. It’s the best team we’re facing all year coming up . . . so we have to be ready, we have to be prepared.”