FOXBORO -- It was a subtle move, but it helped Rob Gronkowski free himself for his third touchdown of the season-opener against the Steelers.
Lined up as a wide receiver, the Patriots tight end jabbed toward the middle of the field with his right foot, then made a beeline in the opposite direction to the back corner of the end zone, leaped up, and caught Tom Brady's well-placed pass for what proved to be the game-winning score.
Gronkowski's quick step to the right may have convinced the Steelers that they were about to see a repeat of the play the helped free-up tight end Scott Chandler for a touchdown earlier in the game. On Chandler's score, Gronkowski ran a rub route from his position on the outside to get in the way of Chandler's defender, who was in the slot.
The formation was similar when Gronkowski scored for a third time, with Chandler in the slot again. But instead of going with the rub route for a second time, Gronkowski faked it with that quick step, potentially confusing the defenders for just long enough to help him score.
That kind of route-running is something that Patriots coach Bill Belichick has seen Gronkowski improve over the course of the last few years. He explained the 2014 unanimous All-Pro's progression to WEEI's Dale and Holley Show on Monday.
"I think Rob's improved his route-running quite a bit," Belichick said. "I think he has a real good understanding of how to attack the defender and defeat the leverage that he has, or take advantage of the leverage that Rob has. How to maximize that. I think his footwork, his understanding of technique and position have improved quite a bit.
"He has good speed, good size, good hands, can go up and get the ball, but I think he's done a good job of finding ways to create more space, especially as the coverage gets tighter. Obviously they're looking for him every week, he's getting a lot of heavy coverage, guys trying to jam him or whatever it is. He's had to try to get that production with much more of a bullseye on his back than probably what it was a couple years ago. I think he's done a good job from a technique standpoint of creating space, creating leverage, using his body."
New England Patriots
Here are a few more highlights from Belichick's conversation with WEEI:
On the "Do Your Job" special that aired on NFL Network last week: "Gotta watch it. It's on my list. I haven't seen all of it yet, no."
On the team's rookie offensive linemen, who impressed on Thursday night: "They've probably gotten a season's worth of snaps to this point. Close to it, I would think. A season's worth. All the spring, training camp, preseason games. Those guys have taken a lot of snaps."
On undrafted rookie center David Andrews: "He's a sharp guy. Had a real good understanding of what he was doing. They obviously play against great competition. You can see that the players that they played against last year, or the year before, or the year before that that are now in the league, there are some pretty good football teams there in that SEC and some good players that they played against week after week. I thought he handled himself well. He's played center all his life. I don't think the position or anything that goes on in there is something that he hasn't seen. Maybe not at this level, but somewhere along the line . . . Glad we have him."
On preparing for crowd noise in Buffalo: "No doubt. We're ready for that every time we go on the road. Sometimes it's louder than other times, but over the course of the game, there certainly are points in every game when you pretty much can't hear anything so you have to use some version of hand signals or stand very close to the person you're talking to to comm. That's normal."
On any changes to Rex Ryan's defense now that he's with the Bills: "I think Rex's schemes are Rex's schemes on defense. There's a lot of carryover from what they did at the Jets to what they do at Buffalo. But from week to week he switches things up quite a bit too depending on who he's playing and what he's trying to take away, what he's trying to defend. After you've seen him for multiple years, I'd say there aren't too many times where you look at it and say, 'Oh there's something he's never done before.' It might be something you haven't seen in half a season, it might be something you haven't seen in two seasons. But there aren't too many things that are just brand brand new. They're within his system, and when he feels like he needs to use a certain thing based on the team he's facing, he'll use it."