New York Giants linebacker Michael Boley understands how difficult it will be for the New York Giants to handle New England Patriots tight ends Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez Sunday in Super Bowl XLVI.
“Their tight ends, they propose a lot of threats. Not just because they’re two tremendous athletes, but because they both do a lot of different things as far as alignment. Alignment wise, that’s where it all starts. They split those guys out as No. 1 receivers and they put them in slots like they’re receivers," Boley said Tuesday during Super Bowl Media Day. "They try to cause mismatch problems, but I think the thing that helps us the most is we have a great linebacker core. We also have three great safeties that can come down and get their hands on those guys to make it easier.”Boley said he expects Gronkowski to play despite the high ankle sprain that has kept him out of practice since the Patriots’ AFC Championhsip Game victory over the Baltimore Ravens.
“Our whole mindset is that he is going to be 100 percent by game time, especially given a game of this magnitude. I can’t expect anything but his best," Boley said. “His size alone just creates a lot of problems for a lot of people. It’s rare to get tight ends his size that can actually run through the routes and get open, so the problem is not only his speed but also his route running.”