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
Gronkowski was the safety valve, catching uncatchable passes at the most important times -- like this third-down grab -- and moving the chains.
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
White has emerged as one of the best pass-catching threats in the league — the franchise record for most catches in a season by a running back is 77, and through five games, White is almost halfway there (32 receptions, best on the team).
.@SweetFeet_White ➡ END ZONE. #INDvsNE | #GoPats pic.twitter.com/jzqSDDOwXN
— New England Patriots (@Patriots) October 5, 2018
And managing it all is Brady, who is more than happy to have his premiere offensive options at his disposal.
“The more great players you have out there, the better we’re going to move the ball and score points,” he explained.
While it’s nice to have all those pieces starting to fall into place, White cautioned against overconfidence. At the end of the day, it still comes back to execution.
“It’s good to have everybody out there,” White said when talking about having the group together and contributing. “We just have to do a good job executing, no matter who is out there. Being in the right spots, whether it’s zone or man. Being on the same page as an offense as a whole. Just cause everybody is out there doesn’t mean it’s going to be a success because it’s us out there. We still have to go out there and make plays and protect the football.
“A lot of us — like me, Gronk, Julian, (Chris Hogan) — we’ve had a lot of reps with Tom,” he added. “But these guys, like Sony (Michel), (Cordarrelle Patterson), Phil (Dorsett), Josh (Gordon)… everybody has been working hard trying to be on the same page as an offense and I think the more reps everyone gets, the better we’ll be.”