Many (including various game officials) think Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski pushes off. On Tuesday, he was working on tactics for getting open that don’t include pushing off.
Via Mike Reiss of ESPN.com, Gronk practiced fake at the goal-line aimed at shrugging a defender and putting himself in the clear for a touchdown.
“That’s a route, when you’re going to your left or right you want to give the whole head and shoulders, not just a little leg step,” Gronkowski told Reiss. “You want to give the whole-body feel, to get the defender to think you’re going that way and then pop the other way. You have to have a couple moves and tricks to get open.”
Apart from the whole-body fake, defenders will still believe that Gronkowski uses his arms when he can as one of his “couple moves and tricks” to get open.