Bruce Arians has been critical of Rob Gronkowski on a few occasions in the short time he’s been the tight end’s coach as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Arians joked in the offseason that the tight end wasn’t in shape for the Florida heat during preseason. And more recently publicly said he wished to get more physicality out of Gronkowski in his debut with the team.
But that wasn’t the case after the Buccaneers’ Week 2 win, though Gronkowski was quiet with no catches against the Carolina Panthers.
In his two games with Tampa Bay, he’s brought in two receptions for 11 yards on four targets.
Arians doesn’t seem surprised by Gronkowski’s lack of production, or worried for that matter.
“Not really,” Arians on Monday told reporters, via NBC Sports Boston. “He got a nice pass interference call for us (and we) missed him on the over route. We’re not throwing the ball 50 times to tight ends – that’s what we have receivers for (and) that’s the way our offense is built. Gronk’s playing great run blocking in the fourth quarter, so I’m not concerned with his pass catches or his targets.”
Surely, the Buccaneers would welcome more offense from Gronkowski, but they don’t want to force things.
“I don’t think they’re paying that much attention to him,” Arians said when asked what other teams are doing to take Gronkowski out of the game. “Tom (Brady) has the ball (and) he decides where it’s going, so he’s reading the defenses and he’s taking whatever they’re giving him. We don’t force passes to anybody.”
Gronkowski and Co. return to the field for a Week 3 matchup against the Denver Broncos on Sunday.
Thumbnail photo via Kim Klement/USA TODAY Sports Images
