Devin McCourty Explains How Rob Gronkowski Has Changed Over Patriots Career

FOXBORO, Mass. — As a fellow member of New England’s 2010 draft class, Devin McCourty has enjoyed a front-row seat for the entirety of Rob Gronkowski’s Patriots career.

On Thursday, McCourty asked how he’s seen Gronkowski’s approach change over their nine NFL seasons together.

“I think he has this persona of this party animal that’s always out partying,” the safety said. “But if you see him — like, when he was young, he was always in the weight room, always lifting the heaviest weights. He was a big meathead. So he’ll probably say he does less meathead things and more functional movement and things like that.”

That makes sense: A few years ago, Gronkowski began training with Tom Brady’s body coach, Alex Guerrero, who preaches the benefits of pliability over traditional weight training.

What hasn’t changed about Gronkowski, according to McCourty, is his fun-loving attitude.

“He’s still laughing, joking, he’s still a kid, and I think that’s good,” McCourty said. “I think it’s good for the team to have guys like that in the locker room. Sometimes around here, things are hard. We practice hard, and it’s hard days. Bill (Belichick)’s not laughing often, so having guys like that helps in the locker room.”

Gronkowski spoke Thursday about the need to keep things light during the long, slow grind of an NFL season.

“You’ve got to,” the tight end said. “It’s a long season. You’ve got training camp, all of the regular season. You’ve got the preseason games. You’ve got all of that, so you’ve got to keep it light. You’ve got to enjoy your time and no matter how games go, up or down, you’ve just got to keep focused and keep it going, which we have been.”

McCourty also praised Gronkowski’s toughness, work ethic, preparation and leadership — traits he said don’t receive enough recognition outside of Gillette Stadium.

“No matter what it was — forearm, knee — he’s always been in here grinding,” McCourty said. “I would say going through injury, if you needed someone to watch on how they prepare each day in practice — whether he’s on the side doing different exercises — he’s always doing something to try to get his body ready to practice and for the game.

“I think he’s been a guy to watch and see what he does. He never complains about something hurting or not being able to do (something.) He just does what he can do, and when he’s coming back from an injury, usually it’s a little more each day.

“Obviously, you guys see he’s been one of the best tight ends since he entered the league. I think his leadership and how hard he works has stuck out more to guys in the locker room than I think people outside the building talk about.”