Caldwell On Gronkowski: 'He Creates All Kinds Of Problems For You'
By Ashley Dunkak
@AshleyDunkak
ALLEN PARK (CBS DETROIT) - As the Detroit Lions plan for the New England Patriots this week, quarterback Tom Brady will not be the only individual meriting special attention. Tight end Rob Gronkowski - known more evocatively as "Gronk" - will get plenty of notice as well.
At 6-feet-6 and 265 pounds, Gronkowski constitutes a matchup nightmare. Not surprisingly, through 10 games he has made 53 catches for 734 yards and nine touchdowns.
"He's a huge weapon for them," Lion quarterback Matthew Stafford said Wednesday. "They line him up all over the place, he runs every route in the route tree, and obviously he's a size matchup for anybody smaller than him, which is pretty much everybody, and quite often a speed matchup for linebackers and sometimes even safeties. He's a dynamic weapon ... He's got great football instincts, makes great plays for them.
"It seems that he and Brady are obviously on the same page more often than not and have been doing it for a while now," Stafford added. "Rob finds ways to get open, and Tom gets him the ball."
The Lions agree that Gronkowski has something of a Calvin Johnson-esque quality in that opposing defenses know what to expect but still find it nearly impossible to stop him.
"He gives you so many different problems, and in particularly once they get their running game going, the play action with him down the seam, over the middle, and Brady throws it extremely well," Lions head coach Jim Caldwell said. "It kind of just ties right in to everything that they do. He creates all kinds of problems for you that way.
"The guy has speed for a big man, incredible size," Caldwell added. "He can make acrobatic catches, but then you can see when he gets the ball in his hand he's also dangerous. The run he had against Indianapolis after the catch was quite impressive. He's a guy that has great passion for the game, so he ignites the team around him as well. He can make plays."
Brady also had nothing but positive sentiments about Gronkowski, who leads New England in receiving yards by a significant margin. By Brady's account, much of what Gronkowski does comes naturally.
"He's got phenomenal catching ability," Brady said. "I don't even think he thinks about it. All these guys do catching drills and stuff like that. I don't think Gronk has ever done a catching drill in his life. He just doesn't even have to think about it. He does a great job run after catch. He always has. They're great individual plays, and we need more of it if we're going to keep winning games … This is our third opponent that's first place in their division, so if we're going to keep trying to beat these teams, then we're going to have to be at our best and make plays like that."
Almost as well-known as Gronkowski's performance on the field is his outsized personality, and his teammates seem to appreciate his enthusiasm.
"This is when football season really starts to challenge everybody, and when you have people in the locker room who are positive and are not laid-back but just have a fun sense about themselves, it makes it a lot of fun," Brady said. "This is still a game, and it's football. It's serious, and it's fun, but at the same time, they bring a lightness to it, which I think softens the mood for everybody. This environment here, even when we win, it probably doesn't feel like it very often, but guys like Gronk always bring out the best in everybody and bring out that child-like enthusiasm that we all have for the game."
Lions wide receiver Jeremy Ross began his career in New England, so he has firsthand experience with Gronkowski. He laughed Wednesday when recalling his former teammate.
"He's Gronk," Ross said. "The name fits him. He's just this guy who's this meathead dude who goes in and catches the ball and just makes plays. He's like, 'I'm Gronk, I'm going to get in there, and I'm going to throw people off me, and I'm going to score and do whatever I can to make plays.' That's what he does."
Ross said Gronkowski would not dispute the meathead label.
"He knows," Ross said. "That's what we used to call him back in the day, so he knows. He's a good football player."