Jags used jams, double teams to corral Gronk

The Patriots’ first offensive play of their AFC Championship rematch with the jawing Jaguars on Sunday in stifling and steamy Jacksonville was proficient, productive and seemed to send a pointed message.

Tight end Rob Gronkowski — the verbal target of Jags All-Pro cornerback Jalen Ramsey last month for not "being as great as people think he is" — hauled in a 9-yard completion from quarterback Tom Brady before being tackled by linebacker Myles Jack. [...]

The Patriots’ first offensive play of their AFC Championship rematch with the jawing Jaguars on Sunday in stifling and steamy Jacksonville was proficient, productive and seemed to send a pointed message.

Tight end Rob Gronkowski — the verbal target of Jags All-Pro cornerback Jalen Ramsey last month for not “being as great as people think he is” — hauled in a 9-yard completion from quarterback Tom Brady before being tackled by linebacker Myles Jack.

Gronkowski had picked up where he left off a week ago when he caught seven passes for 123 yards, a touchdown and five additional first downs in a season-opening win over the Houston Texans.

Gronk, however, stopped there against the Jaguars, who fielded the league’s top-ranked pass defense last season while sending six players to the Pro Bowl.

Gronkowski was targeted only three more times over the next 59 minutes and 26 seconds, making one catch for 6 yards despite playing 58, or 95 percent, of the offensive snaps in a game in which Brady threw 35 times.

The Jaguars primarily assigned safety Tashaun Gipson to defend Gronkowski, with Jack and fellow linebacker Telvin Smith providing support, especially on third down. They weren’t shy about bumping Gronkowski off his route, although coach Bill Belichick saw it differently.

“I mean, I think that happened a couple of times,” Belichick said Monday in a conference call. “I wouldn’t say it was like that all game — maybe I missed it. So I don’t know. ... It wasn’t like he got jammed at the line of scrimmage the whole game. It wasn’t like that at all.”

The 6-foot-6-inch, 268-pound Gronkowski has seen just about everything a defense could attempt to do to slow him down since the Patriots drafted him in the second round (42nd overall) in 2010.

What the four-time All-Pro and the rest of his offensive mates saw from the Jaguars wasn’t different from what every opponent sees. That would be a straight-up defense that generally lines up in a 4-3 formation with a line that can consistently rush the passer, super-swift linebackers and a secondary featuring a pair of lockdown corners in Ramsey and A.J. Bouye.

So, it wasn’t unusual but it was, as is often the case, effective.

“That’s what they do,” Belichick said. “Look, they’re a good defense; they’ve been doing the same thing for quite a while and it’s been very successful for them and they do it pretty much every week.

“I would say most everybody has trouble with it, some elements of it. That’s what they do. And they do a good job of it. That’s no secret.”

Brady, however, thought the Jaguars surprisingly mixed it up a bit as they successfully made Gronkowski a nonfactor.

“I thought they did one or two things a little differently,” Brady said during his weekly, paid interview on WEEI radio. “He was double-covered, I’d say most of the day, on third down. That just gives other people opportunities. We could never really get into a rhythm at that position.”

Receiver Phillip Dorsett seconded the motion.

“We know Rob is going to get doubled often because we know what kind of player he is,” receiver Phillip Dorsett said. “He’s obviously a big part of our offense, but ... everybody has to carry their own load. We all know that. We have to be ready when the ball comes. That’s just how it is in this offense.”

That said, there were two consecutive plays in the third quarter when Gronkowski was singled up on the outside against Ramsey, who was giving away 5 inches and 60 pounds, and Brady didn’t look his way once.

The Patriots are known for their ability to successfully make in-game adjustments, but — based solely on the stats — Belichick and offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels were unable to devise a way to get Gronkowski in more advantageous positions.

“Just from an overall standpoint, we’re better than what we showed [Sunday],” Belichick said. “But that’s what it was, so we have to work harder to improve it. And that’s what we’ll do.”