Buffalo Bills head coach Rex Ryan isn’t tipping his hand about his team will attack Rob Gronkowski, but he did indicate he wouldn’t mind a little superhuman help.
Stopping the New England Patriots tight end, some would argue, is impossible. Slowing Gronkowski also is a tall task, as was displayed last Thursday when he made three touchdown catches against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Now, it’s safe to assume the Bills will at least put someone on Gronkowski (which the Steelers should have tried), but Ryan said Wednesday we’ll have to wait until Sunday for it to play out. But he wouldn’t turn down King Kong’s services if the beast’s agent came calling.
“This dude (Gronkowski), he’s going to make catches,” Ryan said Wednesday, according to the Buffalo News. “There’s no question about it. But you just don’t want him to go crazy on you with three touchdowns. Obviously, you’re trying like hell to eliminate that. But is he as big a challenge as you’ll face in the league at tight end? Absolutely he is. His size, his speed, his strength, this just in, he’s pretty good. …
“We’re not going to ask one guy, ‘Hey, this is your guy.’ Shoot, he’d have to look like King Kong or something. ‘You got him! You’ve got the Gronk!’ Put Kong on him. I’m not going to get into how we’re going to cover him.”
Like he has against most teams, Gronkowski has put up big numbers against Buffalo in his career. He enters Sunday’s matchup with nine touchdowns in seven games against his hometown team. Ryan has seen it over and over, too, though Gronkowski has scored “only” five touchdowns in eight games against the coach’s former team, the New York Jets.
If Kong doesn’t work, the Bills always could just use some magic tricks.
Thumbnail photo via Chris Humphreys/USA TODAY Sports Images
