FOXBORO — At 1:28 of the second quarter, the Patriots were trailing the Jaguars, 10-7, and things looked grim. It got worse when Rob Gronkowski was hit head-to-head by safety Barry Church.

Gronkowski looked wobbly as he stood up. He had to be helped off the field and quickly was taken to the Patriots locker room. Fans feared the worst. When Gronk didn't come out to the field with his teammates after halftime, those fears were confirmed — the Patriots would have to win [...]

FOXBORO — At 1:28 of the second quarter, the Patriots were trailing the Jaguars, 10-7, and things looked grim. It got worse when Rob Gronkowski was hit head-to-head by safety Barry Church.

Gronkowski looked wobbly as he stood up. He had to be helped off the field and quickly was taken to the Patriots locker room. Fans feared the worst. When Gronk didn't come out to the field with his teammates after halftime, those fears were confirmed — the Patriots would have to win the AFC championship without one of their top players.

What’s when Tom Brady said offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels was forced to get creative. It was a battle, but the Patriots went on to defeat the Jaguars, 24-20, and earn a spot in Super Bowl LII. Now, they have two weeks to see if Gronk can return.

"Josh did such a great job of figuring out what we needed to do and how we needed to get it done. It’s hard when you lose such a critical part of your team and offense," Brady said. "Hopefully, he’s OK. It was a tough shot he took. He’s as tough as they come. Hopefully, he’ll feel better soon."

"I just tried to dislodge the ball," Church said. "He’s a big dude and I was just trying to dislodge the ball, but I guess they felt it was too high of a hit. I hope he’s healthy. I know he didn’t come back, so I hope he’s all right.

"It was a tough call, but you have to go with what they call. It’s the toughest play in football. If you go low for the knees, you are considered a dirty player, and if you go high, they throw the flag at you. It’s a bang-bang play and I was just trying to play football. I tried to lead with my shoulder."

Gronkowski now finds himself in the concussion protocol. There’s no set timetable for his recovery.

In order for a player to return, he has to pass five steps. First, he’s removed from practices and team meetings while focusing on activities such as stretching and balance work. He can’t leave the first phase until he returns to the baseline of signs and symptoms.

In stage two, players do light aerobic exercises — around 20 minutes per day. These sessions are monitored by a trainer to see if concussion symptoms appear. Strength training is added and cardiovascular work increases in the third phase. If a player can get through that, he returns to football-specific activities. In stage five, the player has to be cleared by the team and an independent neurologist before he can return to a full practice and game.

No big deal

Brady said he’s dealt with assorted bumps and bruises throughout his career but when he ripped open his thumb in a Wednesday practice, his world quickly took a turn he wasn’t ready for.

“I never had anything like it,” he said. “I’ve had a couple of crazy injuries, but this was pretty crazy. They come up and you just deal with them, and I wasn’t quite sure how I was going to do on Wednesday, Wednesday night, and then Thursday wasn’t sure.”

Brady returned to practice on Friday and gained some confidence but “by Saturday (we were) trying to figure out what we could do, and Sunday you try to come out here and make it happen.”

Brady said that “this was a little injury at the end of the day (but) it’s certainly a big part of what a quarterback does.”

With black tape protecting the injury on his thumb and wrist, Brady showed no ill effects. He couldn’t move the offense through much of the first half but that had more to do with a few dropped passes and an anemic running game. He ultimately completed 26-of-38 passes for 290 yards and did what Tom Brady always seems to do: deliver in the clutch. His two fourth-quarter TD passes to Danny Amendola saved the day and the Patriots’ chances of repeating as Super Bowl champions.

“I’d rather not wear it,” Brady said of the tape,” but I think it sounds kind of arrogant to say, ‘Oh yeah, it bothered me,’ when we had a pretty good game. So, I wouldn’t say that. Doesn’t that sound arrogant if I said that? It’s like when Tiger Woods said, ‘That was my C game,’ and he won the tournament.”

Having an impact

Brandin Cooks was relatively quiet in his postseason debut, catching 3-of-9 targeted passes for 32 yards as the Patriots defeated the Tennessee Titans on Jan. 13.

But the fourth-year receiver made plenty of noise against the Jaguars on Sunday.

He was targeted 10 times and caught six passes for 100 yards. All six resulted in first downs. He also drew a pair of pass-interference penalties that totaled 68 yards.

Cooks averaged 16.7 yards a catch and all six went for double-digit yardage, including distances of 31, 18 and 18. He did his best work on timing routes along the sideline.

"We’ve just continued to practice it," Cooks said. "We’ve been practicing it all year and in critical moments they called the play and dialed it up. That’s just trust right there. We have a lot more room to grow, though."

Second-team All-Pro cornerback A.J. Bouye was flagged for pass interference on Cooks late in the first half, a penalty that was worth 32 yards and moved the ball to the Jacksonville 13. The Patriots scored two plays later, James White running it in from the 1 to cut the deficit to 14-10.

Ready and waiting

Stephon Gilmore had good moments and bad moments in his first season with the Patriots. On Sunday, the cornerback made sure to leave a lasting impression — and a positive one — in his first conference title game.

With 1:53 remaining, the Jacksonville Jaguars were threatening at the New England 43-yard line. It was fourth-and-15 and Jags QB Blake Bortles chose to go after Gilmore.

He chose wrong.

As the pass soared high through the air, Gilmore recognized the route Dede Westbrook was running. He said he saw it earlier in the game. That knowledge allowed him to get perfect position. As the ball came down, he jumped up and swatted it away, ending the Jaguars Super Bowl hopes.

Gilmore said it was one of the best plays of his life. He hopes to have more in two weeks in Minnesota.

“It was the biggest play at the right time. It was a great play,” Gilmore said.