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The New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski had a good night in their Thursday night win against the Indianapolis Colts. And surprisingly, he’s singled out rookie running back Sony Michel as the reason for his strong outing.
“The offensive line is doing a great job, but the way [Michel] is running the ball just helps the play-action out hugely,” Gronkowski said per Herbie Teope of NFL.com. “I caught a couple play-action passes today and it's all because of that reason. The way he runs the ball, the linebackers have to respect it, so it's huge to be part of this offense.”
Despite a gimpy ankle, Gronk had six catches for 75 yards to have his most productive game since Week 1. He had been previously held in check to the tune of just 10 catches for 110 yards over the last three weeks.
As for Michel, he rushed for 98 yards and a touchdown against the Colts. Over his two games, the rookie has now gone for 210 yards rushing and two touchdowns on 43 carries. Michel’s emergence has coincided with veteran Rex Burkhead heading to IR, which has provided him more opportunities to touch the football.
Michel raising up the running game is great news for the Patriots, whose offense seems to be rounding into shape after a less than stellar start. They also have Julian Edelman back to join Gronk and Josh Gordon on a receiving corps that looks a lot better than it did just a couple weeks ago.
Tom Brady obviously doesn’t need much help, but if Michel can continue to make opposing teams expect the Patriots’ running game, then the jobs of Brady and Gronkowski figure to get much easier going forward.
