TAMPA, Fla. – Buccaneers coach Bruce Arians is of the opinion that the Rob Gronkowski we see in training camp – the one who lured Tom Brady out of a one-year retirement and convinced his new team to act for this offseason – is the same one who shook countless NFL, Super Bowl and postseason records five and six years ago.
“The back surgeries have healed. That he had healed a year ago. He looks to me like he was five or six years ago,” Arians said Thursday.
Arians chased Gronkowski playfully because he was not in Florida form, and said Monday, “The heat is hitting his ass pretty well.” But he believes Gronkowski, who holds the record for most receptions and receiving yards through a tight end in Super Bowl history, along with a number of other NFL and postseason records, has regained his health and form.
“He’s not wearing giant elbow support. He’s moving. He’s running hard again. He has great body control,” Arians said Thursday. “Some of the things – the stiffness I saw at the end of his career with all the injuries – it seems like it’s gone.”
Gronkowski, who spent much of his time away from football studying recovery and nutrition, also feels it, even if there was an adjustment period, and it appears in training camp. He remains Brady’s goal, whether it’s throwing the ball in warm-ups or in 11-on-11 team periods, where he’s been on the receiving end of a couple of deep Brady passes and in the red zone flash.
“I feel good there,” Gronkowski, who turned 31 in May, said Thursday. “My body feels good – that’s why I came back to the game, and that’s how I want to move. I want to move like how I was back in the day, no doubt about that. Why. .. would I like to come back to the game and move like a poop? I’m here to move; I’m here to make plays; I’m here to block in the run game; I’m here to make plays in the pass game.
“Let me tell you, first the first few practices, it certainly felt a little strange,” Gronkowski said. “The game was really fast when I first came back; the defense felt really fast. And as time goes on, as the days go by, I feel better about myself being out there. My confidence stays through; the game is slowing down; I’m officially starting to take it up more. But overall it’s going well, but I’ve worked so much harder and so much more to improve; but I’m really happy to be here, man. “
Although Gronkowski’s divorce history is a concern – he has forearm and spinal fractures, a high ankle string and a torn ACL and MCL in his knee, all in 2011, – he does not want to be put on a snap count. He has certainly taken every rep in camp, although the staff said they will check his reps so he is not too worn out.
“I’ll play the whole game if I have to,” Gronkowski said. “I do not see why that would be a problem; I have basically never played every snap in my career. But if it’s not the whole game, if they pull me out for some snaps, some rest, then I’m cool with what it is. game plan of the coaches. “
“He’s done some really good things in practice, and he’s running really well. We just have to make sure he does the right things and restrains himself a bit,” said coach Rick Christophel of tight ends, adding that Gronk’s ” meticulous’ attention to detail is rubbing on teammates OJ Howard, Cam Brate and Tanner Hudson.
As for the other teammate – Brady – Gronk considering that after 20 years in New England, the change of teams, landscape and coaching has brought him back.
“From my eyes, just looking at him, he looked out there; he looks ready to go, he looks ready to play every day, and he’s motivated every day, and it’s fun to watch,” Gronkowski said. “The way Tom works will never change that; he just loves playing football. But I can safely say that he has embraced this new challenge.”
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