IT’S GRONK-O VS. BRONCOS
Pats TE returning to scene of knee injury
THE LAST TIME the Patriots visited Denver, Rob Gronkowski ended up rolling on the turf and pounding the ground in pain after a low hit to the knee by Darian Stewart on an incomplete pass. Shortly thereafter, he was carted off and everyone watching — in the stadium and on TV — had to consider the possibility that the superstar tight end might have been lost for the season.
At the time, in the midst of the Patriots’ Week 12 loss to the Broncos, it would have been hard to imagine that less than two months later Gronkowski would be returning to Denver for the AFC Championship Game. Even he wasn’t thinking that far ahead, he said Thursday, but he was already imagining how quickly he’d return to action.
“At that moment (being carted off) I was just thinking about what was just going on and how to get myself back on the playing field and ready for the next game, whenever that would have been,” Gronkowski said at a press conference in Foxborough Thursday.
It turned out that the prolific tight end would only miss one game due to the injury, but the incident sparked conversation this week in light of the Patriots returning to Denver to face the Broncos for the conference title. Broncos cornerback Chris Harris said earlier this week that the best way to bring down Gronkowski, who suffered a torn ACL in 2013, was to hit him in the knees. Harris’ comment elicited a tweet from the tight end in which he said, “Heard their whole team is good at giving low blows.”
But on Thursday, Gronkowski indicated he really wasn’t bothered by Denver’s apparent intention to hit him low. “It’s part of the game,” Gronkowski said. “I’ve been seeing it all year. I’ve been seeing it my whole career. I’ve just got to get low, get my shoulder down, protect the ball, just protect myself in any way when I see a lot of guys coming.”
He added that didn’t feel like Harris or the Broncos were trying to taunt him with their comments about going for his knees.
“It’s just part of the game. They’re not doing anything illegal out there,” Gronkowski said. “It’s just part of the game. I’ve just got to be aware of it. (I’ve) maybe just got to step up my game a little bit. Maybe throw a juke, I mean I don’t know how many jukes I've got, but I’ve just got to be aware for it.”
And while he wants to protect himself, the tight end said he isn’t going to compromise his game in order to do so.
“My mentality, my game speed, I just like to go full speed at all times,” Gronkowski said. “Whatever it is, it is. It’s football. Everyone wants
to see collisions, so I’m ready to give some.”
As for that tweet he issued earlier in the week? He wasn’t thinking much about that.
“I was just having a little fun with it, hoping to get a little laughs, which I think it did,” Gronkowski said. “It’s just all fun and games with that.”