Rob Gronkowski Makes Bold Statement On Making Playoffs

Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski leaves “no room for excuses,” meaning he is pretty serious about the playoffs. The New England Patriots are playing the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday for the AFC Divisional Round game.

Gronkowski had a terrible season, and many say that New England was left with the self of the star tight end. Gronk had three touchdown receptions in the 13 games he played in. The tight end finished the season with 47 catches for 682 yards. He was nothing like the Gronk we watched in the past decade. Will he get better for the playoffs?

The tight end used the bye week to relax, get refreshed, study and watch some serious football.

There is no room for excuses

“It’s the game of football, there are no room for excuses,” Gronk said. “Everyone is dealing with something. You just have to keep on moving forward, you have to find a way. That is what makes this game great. You have to be mentally and physically prepared at all times to keep on going.”

When asked if he feels great, Gronkowski said, “Yeah, going into the playoff, just had a bye week, practice is going well. I’m doing what the coaches are asking me to do. So, just getting ready for a game Sunday.”

Sunday’s game will be a tough one. Chargers rookie safety Derwin James allowed tight ends to catch 42 points of their targets. Gronk had just four receptions in the past three weeks of the season. The Buffalo Bills shut him out, and the tight end had three catches just once in his past eight games.

Veteran safety Devin McCourty is not concerned about Gronk, and he has a great feeling about the upcoming match.

“Not at all,” Devin said. “We see him running doing everything at practice. The guy is that good of a player. As hard as it is to make it through 16 games it’s totally different when you’re sitting here preparing, you have one game. You don’t know if there is a next week. You’ve got one game, throw everything out there and see what you get.