Gronkowski played under Belichick for almost a decade
Rob Gronkowski doesn’t seem to believe Bill Belichick is in real jeopardy of losing his job any time soon.
Belichick being shown the door in New England was an unfathomable hypothetical in the Gronkowski era. The Patriots were a perennial Super Bowl contender, and Belichick was widely regarded as the NFL’s best head coach.
But times have changed in Foxboro, Mass. New England finished under .500 in two of its first three seasons after Tom Brady left town, and the current Patriots look like a team bound for a top-five pick in next year’s draft. These concerning struggles have led to cries for Belichick to lose his job, but Gronkowski doesn’t believe these woes will persist.
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“I think he’s pretty safe as of right now, and I don’t see them getting blown out like that every game,” Gronkowski told Fox News Digital. “He’s gonna make those adjustments, they’re gonna be playing better, that’s for sure. I don’t see them continuing to get blown out like that, and I think they’re gonna make a pretty strong, at least decent, comeback and compete in games.”
Bouncebacks were a given when Gronkowski was catching passes at Gillette Stadium, but there no longer are grounds for that expectation. Most assumed New England would put forth a more competitive effort last weekend after its disaster in Dallas, but the Patriots were equally terrible at home against the New Orleans Saints.
New England should put up more of a fight against a flawed Raiders team Sunday. But if the Patriots are embarrassed in Las Vegas, Gronkowski might want to reconsider his stance on his former head coach.