FOXBORO, Mass. — If any NFL player has the capability to rumble down the field with multiple defenders hanging off his back, it’s Rob Gronkowski.
But just because the New England Patriots tight end can treat opponents like stray threads on his jersey doesn’t mean that’s always the smartest idea.
Gronkowski has dealt with several serious injuries during his NFL career, and he explained Thursday how preserving his body sometimes trumps fighting for an additional yard or two at the end of a reception.
“You’ve always got to protect yourself whenever you can,” Gronkowski said. “You know when the journey’s done. If you’re running the ball, just get down. Don’t take that extra shot. You can always show your toughness, you can have five guys take you down, but really, that’s sometimes not the case. You really don’t want to show that. You just want to get down — you want to preserve your body for the next play if you know the journey’s done and you’re not going to get any more yards.
“And other than that, it’s just basically taking care of your body off the field, getting all the right work done so you’re already preventing the injury when you step out on the field.”
That mindset did not come naturally for Gronkowski. He learned it the hard way, he said, after absorbing a few bone-rattling hits during his first season in New England.
“It started coming in the last few years,” Gronkowski said. “I remember a couple times my rookie year I’d just try (to gain extra yardage), and ‘boom!’ I remember I was like, ‘Ooh, that one hurt.’ It hurt for me to go one more inch. So definitely, when the journey’s over and you know you gave it all, you’re not going to be able to carry five guys. Sometimes not even two guys. Just whenever you feel like you need to get down, you need to get down.”
That strategy hasn’t always kept him out of the training room, however. Gronkowski has missed at least one game due to injury in five of his seven pro seasons, including this one.
The 2012 and 2013 campaigns were the worst in that regard, as a broken forearm and a torn ACL combined to sideline him for 14 regular-season contests and three playoff games. Gronkowski also practically played Super Bowl XLVI on one leg after suffering a high ankle sprain in the 2011 AFC Championship Game, and he had to be carted off the field last season in Denver, though he ended up missing only one game following that scare.
A hamstring injury suffered during training camp kept the four-time All-Pro out of the first two games this season and limited him in Weeks 3 and 4. Since then, though, Gronkowski has been a monster, catching 16 passes for 364 yards and two touchdowns over New England’s last three games.
The Patriots clearly are a much better team when Gronkowski is on the field, and he plans to do everything he can to make sure he stays there.
“It’s a physical game,” he said. “Every play’s going to be physical, so just save it for the next one.”
Thumbnail photo via Charles LeClaire/USA TODAY Sports Images
