Gronkowski & staying in to block – New England Patriots Blog – ESPN Boston

Releasing into routes: 33

Staying in to protect: 16

The 16 might be a bit more than the norm (just a guess, as this isn’t something normally charted here), but offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels wasn’t spinning things when he said of Gronkowski’s limited production, “I think it’s just a factor of the ball came out quick sometimes and we had some other people that were in situations to make plays based on what Baltimore did to us.” Those other players were mainly Brandon Lloyd and Wes Welker. On the majority of plays that Gronkowski released downfield, the ball was out of Brady’s hands to someone else before Gronkowski was at the stem of his route. In particular, the Patriots really seemed to like the one-on-one matchup on the outside against cornerback Cary Williams.