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JACKSONVILLE – After a long week of chatting about Rob Gronkowski, he ended up being silenced.

Before Sunday 's game between the Patriots and the Jaguars, there was a lot of strikes and air on Gronkowski. Exactly how was it good after Jalen Ramsey, Jags' Corner, suggested that it was not so good? Exactly who would cover Gronkowski in Jacksonville?

In the end, the All-Pro captured only two targets on four targets for 15 yards. Ramsey was part of the equation by slowing down Tom Brady's favorite target. But he was far from the only one.

Gronkowski ran 32 lanes in his team's 31-20 loss, by my account. Ramsey was part of the Gronkowski Plan on four of these routes. He saw Gronkowski on the outside and then in the slot on consecutive games in mid-third quarter. In the fourth quarter, he started climbing on Gronkowski, but sent him back to a linebacker in the middle of the pack. In the last offensive game of the Patriots game, Chris Hogan's second touchdown of the day, Ramsey was again blocked against Gronkowski.

That was it. No targets. No catches. A series of successful games for Ramsey, of course, but it was far from the main means of attack. This honor would go to Tashaun Gipson's safety.

Gipson slammed 13 shots with Gronkowski and left unharmed. Gipson was targeted once in Gronkowski's cover – deep within the right touchline – and did not allow completion. Gipson was also half a double security team that was used twice on Gronkowski in the red zone with Barry Church. This duo also held Gronkowski in check.

Rookie Safety Ronnie Harrison has seen Gronkowski six times. Myles played with him in the first melee game and then doubled Gronkowski with Church. Telvin Smith checked Gronkowski a few times and teamed with Church once to double Gronkowski. The corner of the DJ Hayden slot machine even seemed to have Gronkowski once.

"It's tough on a team like that," Gronkowski said. "You have to be ready, you have to be ready and you have to find the openings, that's something I did not do today."

Gronkowski added, "I'm just trying to open up, that's all, no matter who's against it, they just did a good job as a defense, they're fast, they covered well. We just have to be more prepared, I have to go out and play better. "

It's a team effort from the Jaguars, whose defeat sent Brady twice and rushed him 13 times, according to Pro Football Focus. But after the match, more than an hour after the match in the Jaguars' locker room, Gipson was quite willing to point out that he had been neglected by the media when preparing for what was announced in many places under the name of "Gronk vs. Ramsey."

I asked him how the Jaguars slowed Gronkowski on Sunday and he jumped.

"Are you saying, are you going or me?" He asked. "Are you going or me?"

The implication was clear.

"I'm kidding," he continued after expressing his point of view. "There is no good or bad way, no matter who you put it in. A guy like him is going to have a chance, a guy like him is going to catch the ball …

"All week long, I knew.Many people thought that Jalen was going to keep it.Many people were, maybe Myles.But I had to watch it all week and I said" Okay. " -being that people are going to be shocked. & # 39;

"I was ready for people to think," Man, why [No.] 39 on him? This clash here has fed me all week and I knew what I could do against him. "

The key? Match Gronkowski's physics, but use speed to disturb him. At 5 feet 11 inches, 212 pounds, there was too much force Gipson brought to the table and he knew it. A combination of aggression and speed was something that he thought he could use to his advantage.

"In the end, the game plan was simple," said Gipson. "Put her hand in. And at the end, drop the ball where she could." Obviously, I do not think Tom went to see him much when I was on him, but we went a lot it was not complete.

"It was just one of those offers, it was just trust, we knew that whoever was going to be with him – Jalen, I – we talked before the match, we had confidence in ourselves and what we were able to do it, we were able to retain it.

"Two for 15 [yards]? Nobody would have ever guessed that it would come into play. I just want people to respect my name a little bit. It's the second time. "

Gipson held Gronkowski without catching in his limited time in the AFC title game.

"It's obvious – I'm giving up seven inches, 60 pounds," Gipson said. "We do not have anyone who's so big and physically able to keep him physically, I think you really have to be physical with him, you have to beat him up, you have to be sure to stay on top." of its routes and control it.

"In the red zone we had cuts where he had a break, we had a security to do it [to double]but for the most part it was: "Hey, you got it."

"Sometimes [defensive coordinator Todd] Wash came close to me and said, "I will introduce myself to a man and I will run a lot more. It's like it's cool, let's continue. "

Gipson welcomed the challenge and committed to it in a way that was not very effective against Gronkowski. Why not tell anyone who wants to hear it?