FOXBOROUGH — Matthew Slater couldn’t quite believe it.
Told that Thursday night marked the first time the quartet of Tom Brady, Rob Gronkowski, James White and Julian Edelman had all been on the field together for a meaningful football game since Nov. 2016, the special teams captain was shocked.
“Really? Wow. I didn’t realize that,” he said. “Wow. It’s good having them all out there together. We’re fortunate to have players like that who have been so consistent for us. Who are dependable in big moments. And know just how we do things.
“They’re Patriots. They understand what this thing means. It’s good to have them all together.”
For a large portion of the night, their impact was clear. In his first game since Super Bowl LI, Edelman had seven catches on nine targets for 57 yards. Gronkowski had six catches on seven targets for 75 yards. White had 10 catches on 14 targets for 77 yards and a touchdown. And Brady put the capper on the night by going 34-for-44 for 341 yards, with three touchdowns and two interceptions. Small wonder the Patriots rolled up 24 first-half points on the way to a 38-24 win over the Colts.
“You can take us away from each other for 10 years, and we’ll come back and be the same. We’ll just have to knock off the rust with a couple of practices,” responded Gronkowski when he was asked about having the foursome together on the field.
“It just shows that we’ve been together for a long time and we all understand each other. We all understand how we play, which is great to have (when it comes) to that comfort level.”
While the offense stalled at times in the third quarter — there was a 3-and-out and a pair of picks in the third — their on-field reunion was a much-needed jolt for an offense that had been plagued by inconsistency over the first four weeks of the season.
The level of familiarity that has been built by years of reps together could be seen on several occasions throughout the evening: Edelman was all to bring the energy out of the gate, catching the first pass of the evening and sparking the passing game in the first half.
First play of the game.
1⃣2⃣ finds 1⃣1⃣. #INDvsNE | #GoPats pic.twitter.com/qGZ4uWDecv
— New England Patriots (@Patriots) October 5, 2018
Brady, with a defender trying to bring him down, to Gronk for 15 yards on 3rd down!! pic.twitter.com/xBmWRxB1xS
— New Account (@ftbeard_17) October 5, 2018
.@SweetFeet_White ➡ END ZONE. #INDvsNE | #GoPats pic.twitter.com/jzqSDDOwXN
— New England Patriots (@Patriots) October 5, 2018