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Gronk feeling like his old self again

Ken Blaze / USA TODAY Sports

Warning to the rest of the NFL: Gronk's back.

Pass-catching dynamo Rob Gronkowski was limited for the first four weeks of the season by a nagging hamstring injury. The ailment forced him to miss two games and earn just one catch for 11 yards in limited action in the following two.

But in Week 5, the New England Patriots tight end went off for five catches and 109 yards. No play better encapsulated his trademark ferocity than a 34-yard catch and run in which he shed five tacklers and fell just short of the end zone at the 2-yard line.

That his return to form coincided with Tom Brady's return to action is of no surprise.

"It's a little bit of both," Gronkowski said of the correlation at Thursday's press conference. "I mean, first off, first myself, always got to get healthy. When I'm healthy I can go out there and do what I've got to do blocking, running-wise, catching-wise, running full speed at all times, going full speed every single time I'm out there.

"It was great to get Tom back and everything, but I feel like just my game, I feel like I can go out there and just do what I've got to do."

Uh oh.

Gronk has averaged more than 1,000 yards and 11 touchdowns in his last five seasons. If he is anywhere near his Pro Bowl form, the rest of the AFC is in trouble. Gronkowski stopped short of declaring himself fully healthy, though.

"If you're playing in the NFL, you're never 100 percent," he said. "I would say just going out there and being fully prepared to the max that I could be physically every single week and being ready to roll. I'm out there now, I'm rolling now, so there's no excuses."

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