Tom Brady: Rob Gronkowski Puts Defenders at Physical and Mental Disadvantage

FOXBOROUGH — New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski dominates defenders on a physical level, but his ability to run roughshod over opposing secondaries may be just as much about the mental aspect of the game.

When Gronkowski is fully healthy, he is nearly impossible to cover, but according to Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, Gronk’s advantage over defenders begins before the ball is even snapped.

“Imagine trying to cover that,” Brady said at a press conference at Gillette Stadium on Wednesday. “He just gets great body position, and I think that’s a big part of it, because he’s such a big guy, it’s hard to go through him. He’s [6-foot-6] and 260 pounds. So if he can get himself in the right position and get the defender where he wants him, in the right place in the route, the defender can’t do anything about it. And I think they know that, too, so then they panic. And then when they panic, it’s even more of an advantage to the offense.

“It’s like sometimes, when you get a bigger receiver on the perimeter and a smaller DB’s matched up on him, the mindset of the DB might even change because they think, ‘Oh my god, this guy’s so much bigger and taller and stronger. What am I going to do?’ And then they’re already beat sometimes before the ball is snapped. That’s a good mindset for an offensive player, when he’s making those plays and the defenders are now all of a sudden defensive before the ball is even snapped, not only are they at a physical disadvantage but they become at a mental disadvantage [lacking] the confidence in their ability to make a play, that plays into it too.”

We saw shades of this against the Denver Broncos on Sunday, on Gronk’s touchdown catch with 14:00 remaining in the fourth quarter. Gronk split out wide, which forced Broncos linebacker Von Miller to follow him to the perimeter. Gronk faked to the outside, which forced Miller to respect the possibility of the fade route, but when Gronk cut back inside on the slant route toward the middle of the field, Miller was already out of position.

Gronkowski’s size advantage is so tremendous that it forces defenders to think about a low-percentage fade route instead of prioritizing the high-percentage slant.

The scary part for opposing defenses is that while Gronkowski holds such an edge thanks to his size, he’s also sharpened his mental skill set to better take advantage of his physical tools.

“It’s man awareness, zone awareness, body positioning, it’s timing of when the balls in [the air], the anticipation of the ball,” Brady said of the areas Gronkowski has improved from a mental standpoint. “I think when you spend as much time as we have practicing together and you talk about corrections and adjustments, usually when you correct something, hopefully you don’t have to correct it again.”

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