Sunday night’s game between the Chiefs and Patriots will feature two of the best tight ends in the league as Travis Kelce and Rob Gronkowski take the field for their respective teams.
Kelce’s name came up a lot during Gronkowski’s Wednesday press conference and the Patriots tight end said that he thinks Kelce “a great player.” Gronkowski also said he thinks he can learn from watching Kelce play, but he was less interested in making comparisons between himself and the Chiefs star.
Gronkowski was asked about Jason Witten and Patrick Mahomes calling Kelce the best tight end in the NFL in a question that also referenced the two players being the same age.
“Oh, I didn’t even know we were the same age,” Gronkowski said. “That’s pretty nuts actually. But I just try to be the best I can be every single week, do my job every single week. The rankings and all that, the comparisons, all that, I’ll just leave that up to you guys, whatever you guys say. But I just try to do my best. I think he’s a great player and I’ve just got to worry about what I can do to help out the team.”
Kelce’s got a statistical edge on Gronkowski through five games and has benefitted from a deeper cast of supporting characters for most of that time. The Patriots have caught up on that front, which could change the statistical ranking and the next 11-plus games are sure to change some minds about the rankings one way or another.
