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Rob Gronkowski isn’t returning to the New England Patriots.
After teasing a possible comeback, the former All-Pro tight end simply announced he’s hosting a Super Bowl party in Miami for this season’s upcoming big game.
While that was disappointing enough for Patriots fans, what has to be even more discouraging for New England fans were his comments while on the subject of the 2019 Patriots. As we’re all aware, the offensive unit is vastly struggling and ranks 16th in total yards and points per drive.
The defense has carried the team with Tom Brady showing his age as of late. So Gronkowski had to have some words of encouragement for his former squad, right?
The 30-year-old instead took a swipe at the Patriots’ tight ends, pointing out how they lack a certain type of player matching Gronkowski’s exact physical traits.
Via NESN:
“The defense is just tremendous, the way they’re coming together with the veteran leadership they have there, and the skill set they have,” Gronkowski told Reiss. “With the offense, they’re finding ways to make it work like they’ve always done, putting guys in the right situation to make plays. “But man, they’re missing some guy who is 6-6, 260 (pounds). They’re missing that guy, for sure.”
Patriots’ Tight End Core Is Pretty Bad
The Patriots’ current starting tight end is the soon-to-be 39-year-old Benjamin Watson, who was actually cut in the middle of the season before being re-signed. The reason why he was re-signed? It was due to injuries to starting tight ends Ryan Izzo and Matt LaCosse.
While Watson has certainly been a productive tight end during his career, he doesn’t come close to the impact of Gronkowski — who is arguably the greatest receiving tight end ever.
The Patriots’ arsenal of tight ends have been so bad that their three tight ends have combined for just one touchdown and 22 receptions for 296 receiving yards in 10 games. Even when Gronkowski was at his worst last season, the 30-year-old tight end still produced far superior numbers with his 47 receptions for 662 yards and three touchdowns in just 13 games last season.
While Patriots fans were hoping for a boost with the return of Gronkowski, that simply won’t happen now that the 6-foot-6, 260-pound tight end has ruled out a return for the 2019 season.
Tom Brady Concerned with Patriots’ Offensive Struggles
If you saw Brady’s reaction during the postgame, you would have thought New England lost in their Super Bowl rematch against the Philadelphia Eagles. However, that wasn’t actually the case as the Patriots moved to the AFC’s best record at 9-1 after their 17-10 win over the Eagles.
With that being said, it was once a struggle. Brady threw 15 incompletions in the first half alone — a career high — and he failed to throw a touchdown pass. The Patriots’ lone TD pass was a trick play which saw receiver Julian Edelman throw a touchdown pass for New England’s lone passing TD of the day.
During an interview on Monday, Brady admitted that the offense is the weak part of the Patriots’ offense.
“I just think to win the game ultimately you just have to score more points than the other team. That goes without saying. I don’t know what it is going to be on a particular week. We won the Super Bowl 13-3, that was pretty good. We lost the Super Bowl 41-33, that wasn’t good.
I don’t know how many points it is going to be. The reality is it is a team sport. It’s complementary football. The strength of our team is our defense and our special teams. On offense we just have to take advantage when we get opportunities and understand where our strengths lie and try and play to them — not giving any short fields, not turning the ball over and try and take advantage when we get into the red area to score touchdowns.
That is kind of where our offense is. That is kind of where our team is.”
If the Patriots are to get through the tougher teams in the NFL — the Baltimore Ravens and the NFC’s elite squads come to mind — they’re going to need more from the offense.
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