FOXBORO -- They’ve picked up where they left off.

It's only taken one game of the 2012 regular season, but it’s clear Aaron Hernandez and Rob Gronkowski aren’t ready to give up their title as the NFL’s best tight end duo. In the opener Sunday against the Titans, they were targeted a combined 13 times (almost half of quarterback Tom Brady’s 31 pass attempts) and each came away with six catches and a touchdown.

Gronkowski made a great grab on his touchdown catch, but his best reception of the afternoon came when he showed off his ridiculous catch radius, plucking a badly-thrown ball off his shoe tops in the third quarter to keep a drive alive. As for Hernandez, his touchdown catch was also impressive, but his versatility -- including lining up six times in the backfield -- was probably the thing that sticks with you the most coming out of that game.

“It’s hard to stop the two because they’re a matchup nightmare. You stop them by stopping Tom Brady -- you must get pressure and squeeze the pocket,” said one NFC scout who went back and watched the Patriots-Titans game. “Teams have to disrupt the timing with pressure, because it’s hard to match up with size and skill of tight ends and variety of ways they use them.

“It’s different for defensive coordinators to devise game plans to get physical and try to disrupt timing of tight ends by jamming or doubling, because every defender you take away to handle the tight ends is one less you have to pressure quarterbacks or cover Wes Welker or one of the running backs,” he added.

“The alignment of defense to cover and account for tight end threats is an easy read for a quarterback, allowing quick reads, quick delivery and chain moving. When it comes to Brady and the Patriots, it’s very clear they still do a very good job of using tight ends, personnel groupings and formations to get ahead on defense.”

But while Gronkowski’s physical style is the same as it ever was, Hernandez has somehow become even more versatile than he was last season. He’s always been able to play a lot of positions, but now, in his third year with the Patriots, Hernandez continues to display a flexibility that few players can claim.

A tight end in name only, the Florida product remains a matchup nightmare for several reasons, not the least of which is that you never know where he’s going to line up. If an opposing defense comes out in a base look, Hernandez can shift from working as a typical tight end -- or motion out of the backfield -- and split out to become a wide receiver. If the defense breaks the huddle in a nickel or dime set expecting a pass, he can line up anywhere to give the Patriots a power run look.

Taking a look back at the regular-season opener against the Titans, the 6-foot-1, 245-pounder out of Florida was an offensive Swiss Army knife. In his 66 offensive snaps, Hernandez was at 10 different spots on the field. No other player moved around as frequently as he did. Here’s a breakdown of where he lined up:

•Wide right (as a traditional wide receiver on the right side): 9 times.

•Wide left (as a traditional wide receiver on the left side): 2 times.

•Motioning from the tight end spot on the right side into the left slot: 3 times.

•Motioning from the backfield into the tight end spot on the left side: 1 time.

•Tight end on the left side (either next to another tight end or flush next to the left tackle): 12 times.

•Tight end on the left side (lined up just off the line): 2 times.

•Tight end on the right side (either next to another tight end or flush next to the right tackle): 14 times.

•Backfield, either as a fullback or running back: 6 times.

•Slot right: 11 times.

•Slot left: 6 times.

In this age of specialty, Hernandez and his versatility are a dangerous option. He’s part tight end, part wide receiver (both split wide and in the slot) and occasional running back. You combine that versatility with his physical skills, and you have a very special player.

“Hernandez has unbelievable short-area quickness and he has a great feel for setting up routes,” said Daniel Jeremiah, a former NFL scout who now works for NFL.com. “He has rare quickness and instincts.”

And while Gronkowski brings his own unique style, it’s Hernandez that's the offensive hybrid every other team in the league now covets.

“He’s the x factor that makes the Patriots offense hard to match up with from a personnel standpoint,” Sam Monson, an analyst for Pro Football Focus, said of Hernandez. “Gronkowski is a nightmare too, but in the same way any great tight end is always tough to defend. Hernandez forces teams to make a decision about whether to treat him as a wide receiver or part of the run game before the huddle, and that tends to change personnel groupings on defense.”

Monson said things changed when Hernandez showed himself to be a threat in the running game.

“Initially, he was no different from someone like Jimmy Graham, except Hernandez was so bad a blocker that teams were just treating him as a wideout and being no worse off in the run game if he was blocking the nickel back. When they gave him the ball and let him run though, it swung the pendulum back to his favor -- he became impossible to match up with again.

“Modern offense in the NFL is about finding defenses that don’t have any single answer for in all situations. Hernandez is one of those players for the Patriots. He puts defenses under enormous stress just by being on the field every time they huddle -- or don’t huddle -- up.”