FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- Leftovers from the New England Patriots' locker room on Monday:
Develin enjoys front-row view. Playing a season-high 30 snaps as part of the Patriots’ 42-20 win over the Indianapolis Colts Sunday night, fullback James Develin spoke of the strong work the offensive line did in front of him and the other backs.
“Everyone’s got their roles,” Develin said. “[Cameron Fleming] came in and he did a really good job for us in that jumbo tight end look. [Michael Hoomanawanui] and [Rob Gronkowski], they consistently got the job done on the edge and our offensive line just blew open some huge holes. It was fun to watch the guys work.”
Gray’s bright outlook. A day after racking up 199 rushing yards and four touchdowns on 38 carries, Jonas Gray felt no ill effects from the significant increase in workload.
“Surprisingly I feel great,” Gray said. “I actually just did some extra conditioning, I’m feeling good.”
Like Develin, Gray also took the time to praise the offensive line’s performance on Sunday for allowing him to wear down the defense.
“They did a good job controlling the line of scrimmage the entire game,” Gray said. “When they do that the entire game, it doesn’t really matter much what the secondary is doing -- they’re going to see a whole lot of me.”
Gray, who grew up in Pontiac, Michigan, also touched on being excited to face the Detroit Lions for the first time this Sunday. Gray grew up a Lions fan, specifically a Barry Sanders fan.
“Ready for a big week against Detroit, it’s going to be a big game,” Gray said. “I’m excited for the challenge.”
McCourty on Arrington. Like coach Bill Belichick did earlier Monday morning, safety Devin McCourty had high praise for Kyle Arrington regarding the job he did covering Colts top receiver T.Y. Hilton Sunday night.
“I think we have a lot of versatility as far as the fact that we can go into every game and decide matchups not by names or by yards, just by who we think matches up the best,” McCourty said. “I think Kyle’s athletic ability -- his speed and quickness -- was a good matchup for him going against T.Y. Hilton. I thought he did a good job.”
Plenty of laughs. While each of the four players -- Develin, Gray, McCourty and offensive tackle Nate Solder -- that drew large media crowds on Monday joked about the idea of Gray as a stand-up comedian, McCourty perhaps got the biggest laugh of the day when asked whether anything about Gronkowski on or off the field still surprises him.
“I stay away from Gronk’s off-the-field adventures,” McCourty said, pausing before choosing the word “adventures.” “On the field, he can shift into Gronk, “Beast Mode,” whatever you want to call it, and score from anywhere on the field and make a big play. I mean, our defense, we love watching it. But like I always say, he doesn’t do that in practice.”