FOXBORO -- The new guys weren’t talking on Wednesday, but there were plenty of other folks who were willing to discuss the impact that tight end Dan Gronkowski and linebacker A.J. Edds could have on the Patriots.

At 6-foot-5 and 255 pounds, Gronkowski is a big tight end who comes to the Patriots with a reputation as a blocker first and pass-catcher second. (He has nine catches for 65 yards in two professional seasons.) New England finished cutdown weekend with just two tight ends, and so the acquisition makes sense from a personnel standpoint. In addition, his background with the Broncos (where he was for a single season under former Patriots’ offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels) certainly played a role in New England’s interest.

Oh, yeah. He’s also the brother of New England tight end Rob Gronkowski.

“That’s pretty coincidental. That’s not the purpose of it,” Pats coach Bill Belichick said of the connection to his brother. “Dan’s done a good job in Detroit and last year in Denver, in Josh’s offense, so it’s easy to see the influence on the things that are similar to what we do. We feel like he’s a good addition to our team at that position, both offensively and he’s also spent some time in the kicking game.

“He’s been involved, and when you’re a tight end, you’re going to be involved in all facets of the game. He didn’t have big receiving numbers, but he can run and catch the ball.”

“He’s a hard worker,” said Rob Wednesday morning shortly after it was announced that the Patriots had signed his older brother. “Wherever he is, he’s just always working hard -- in the weight room, on the field, off the field, studying. I know he’s just coming to be a hard worker, just get down all the plays right away and focus on his job.”

Dan (who will wear No. 82) and Rob make up one-half of football-playing Gronkowski’s: Chris (with Indianapolis) and youngest brother Glenn (at Kansas State) make up the other pair. Rob knows it's remarkable just to have three brothers in the league at the same time, so he can appreciate what it’s like to have two of those brothers on the same team.

“You get excited, definitely,” he said. “He’s a family member. You’re grateful to have brothers in the league, but then, when it comes down to it, you have a brother on the same team, that’s awesome. It was already a dream come true that he was in the NFL at the same time, but having him on your team, it’s awesome to have someone there (who can bring) a lot more support.”

While its nice to have your brother on the same team (“The two brothers were giving each other headlocks in the locker room yesterday,” joked quarterback Tom Brady on Wednesday), Rob acknowledges there’s not a lot of time for fun and games between now and the start of the regular season.

“This is definitely business -- we’re here focusing on our job. We’re just focused on Miami,” Rob said. “He just came in yesterday, so he has to catch up on everything, so we have to get going, get all the plays down, get the playbook going and just focus on Miami. We have no time to interact as brothers right now. We’re both just focused on the job and getting it done. It fells just like another player right now, because he’s just working hard to get down the plays.”

Even though he’s Rob’s older brother (Dan is 26, while Rob is 22), he’s probably more of a work-in-progress than his younger sibling. Sam Monson of the analytical site Pro Football Focus says it's hard to get a read on what sort of player Dan is because he hasn’t seen the field all that much over the last two years.

“Dan Gronkowski certainly has potential,” writes Monson. “Aside from being a physical specimen like his brother, he’s shown good games last year (in 2009 he only played 17 snaps, so we’ll ignore that) against the 49ers and Chiefs. He’s also shown some poor games, one of which was also against the Chiefs. We’re talking about a guy who hasn’t had much game time to even settle into the league though so it’s very early to make any real evaluation of him.”

Edds is tougher to get a read on. The linebacker, who will wear No. 90, was originally selected by Miami in the fourth round (199th overall) of the 2010 draft out of Iowa, but spent his entire rookie season on injured reserve after tearing the ACL in his right knee during training camp. This summer, the 23-year-old had a good preseason -- he led the Dolphins in tackles this preseason with 18 (with one sack) -- but was cut loose by Miami.

Dolphins coach Tony Sparano said Wednesday that Edds was the victim of a numbers game.

“He’s a very smart player,” Sparano said. “We had 10 linebackers on the team and A.J. obviously missed a lot of time last year with the ACL [injury]. That was really was it.”

However, Edds was a four-year letterman and a three-year starter at Iowa -- a program run by former Belichick lieutenant Kirk Ferentz. Belichick said Wednesday there were some defensive similarities between what the Patriots do and what the Hawkeyes run, so that level of familiarity might help Edds’ acclimation process.

“[He] played outside linebacker at Iowa, went down to Miami last year and played inside linebacker,” Belichick said. “[He] looked like he was having a pretty good training camp, pretty good preseason, injured his knee, missed the year and then came back this year and played inside linebacker down there so I think he has a little bit of inside-outside flexibility, kicking game, has long snapped.”

“He has a good amount of long-snapping experience,” Sparano said. “He was a really solid backup long snapper and we actually had him do some of it in a preseason game this year.”

If the Patriots are able to keep him around, Monson sees the 6-foot-3, 246-pound Edds as someone who could ultimately make more of a contribution in 2012.

“Guys coming back from an ACL injury usually take a year of average to crappy play before they feel like themselves again, which could explain his release,” Monson writes. ”Bottom line is if you liked him when he was coming out, and you can find a way to keep him around for a season, it could pay off next year.”