FOXBORO -- After playing in 24 snaps of the Patriots' 71 offensive plays Sunday, tight end Rob Gronkowski said his left forearm held up well in the Pats' 28-0 win over the Dolphins at Gillette Stadium.
Gronkowski hadn't played since breaking the forearm in the Patriots' Nov. 18 win over the Colts.
"I was out there, having a good time with my teammates," he said. "It was a blast being back out on the field. It was up to the coaches and training staff how much I was going to play. They control everything. I was just glad we got the win against a good Miami Dolphins team overall. They have a good defense. I was just glad to be out there for my team."
Gronkowski made two catches for a total of 41 yards, including a fourth-quarter, 23-yard touchdown pass from Tom Brady to cap the scoring.
"It felt good," he said. "I haven't got hit in a while. It's been a couple of weeks -- about six weeks since I got hit. It's football. I'm always ready to get hit, always ready to get knocked down. You've just got to get back up and get in the huddle. It felt good to get back out there."
The tight end practiced throughout the course of the week leading up to the regular-season finale but wouldn't identify exactly when he got clearance to participate in Sunday's game.
"My mindset was cleared to play from Monday," Gronkowski explained. "I was just preparing myself like I was playing in the game no matter what. The doctors cleared me late during the week, but that really didn’t matter because my mindset was ready to go the whole time."
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