FOXBORO – Eric Rowe says he’s good to go.
“Oh, yeah, I’m back up to game speed,” the Patriots cornerback said before the team broke for its playoff bye weekend. “No one’s 100 percent, but, yeah, back up to game speed.”
Sidelined by a groin injury in Week 3, Rowe returned to play in the Patriots’ 33-30 loss to Carolina at Gillette Stadium on Oct. 1, re-aggravated the injury and missed the next seven games before getting back on the field to play the final five weeks of the regular season.
With the Patriots due to return from their playoff bye week to host Tennessee in an AFC divisional-round game at Gillette on Saturday night at 8:15, Rowe says he’s ready to contribute as the team’s third corner behind Stephon Gilmore and Malcolm Butler.
“Just kind of finishing the season, to come back and even contribute and play for the defense was kind of like a big thing for me because at the time I was like, man, I don’t know if I can come back, (get) back up to game speed and all that stuff,” said Rowe. “So just kind of how it ended the season, I was kind of happy that, OK, I got back, but I know that, especially the second season, you’ve got to get it rolling.”
Considered a disappointment in Philadelphia after being selected in the second round of the 2015 NFL Draft, the Eagles dealt Rowe to the Patriots on Sept. 6, 2016, in exchange for a fourth-round pick in 2018.
Around ankle and hamstring injuries, Rowe managed to play in nine games, starting seven, in the 2016 regular season and appeared in all three of the Patriots’ postseason games in their run to their Super Bowl LI championship.
Rowe, 6-foot-1 and 205 pounds, totaled 26 tackles, one interception and eight passes defensed during the regular season, plus 11 tackles, an interception he returned 37 yards in the fourth quarter of the Patriots’ 36-17 AFC Championship Game win over Pittsburgh and three passes defensed in the postseason.
Appearing in eight games this season, starting three, the 25-year-old had 14 tackles and broke up two passes on defense and made one stop on special teams.
Postseason Gronk: With three career 100-yard receiving games in the playoffs, Rob Gronkowski is tied for third all time by a tight end in NFL history behind Vernon Davis and Keith Jackson (four apiece).
Gronkowski’s 52 career playoff receptions are fifth all time by a tight end behind Dallas Clark’s 64, Jay Novacek’s 62, Shannon Sharpe’s 62 and Brett Jones’ 60.
With 754 yards in receptions, Gronkowski ranks fourth in NFL playoff history for receiving yards by a tight end behind Clark (847), Jackson (834) and Sharpe (814).
