FOXBORO -- After a year-plus of record-setting numbers, Rob Gronkowski hit a speed bump Sunday night against the Ravens.

The Patriots’ third-year tight end finished the game with two catches on three targets for 21 yards -- statistically, it was one of the lowest points of his career (last year, he had one game where he had one catch for 15 yards). The disappearing act had some wondering what was up with the 23-year-old -- did the Ravens discover tight end kryptonite? Or was he utilized more as a blocker to try to help slow down the Baltimore pass rush?

“Rob’s always worn multiple hats in that regard, and I do think it just came out in the game the other night that it ended up that there were limited opportunities,” said offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels. “It wasn’t that he wasn’t out in the pattern and it wasn’t that Tom [Brady] did a poor job of reading the defense and what have you, I think it’s just a factor of the ball came out quick sometimes and we had some other people that were in situations to make plays based on what Baltimore did defensively to us.

“He’s always going to be a big focus of what we’re trying to do in the passing game,” McDaniels added. “It just so happened the other night that there ended up being a few other guys that had more chances.”

“I mean, it’s a team game. Whatever plays are called, [I’m] just going out there and doing my job,” Gronkowski said Wednesday when he was asked about a dip in production. “Whatever is asked of me, I’m just going to go out there and perform my routes based on how I’ve been coached that week. Perform in the running game, pass blocking, run blocking, whatever it is and just going out there and doing my own job and whatever happens, happens.”

What happened was that Gronkowski was one of the keys for the Ravens defense. Baltimore made sure to get a body on the tight end from start to finish. Whether it was a linebacker (occasionally Ray Lewis) or a defensive back (safety Bernard Pollard), the Ravens threw plenty of bodies in his direction. Their job was made a little because of the fact that Baltimore didn’t have to worry about Aaron Hernandez, who was on the shelf because of an ankle injury suffered the week before. (Despite the fact that the Patriots have six tight ends, four were active -- Daniel Fells, Michael Hoomanawanui, Kellen Winslow and Gronkowski. Only one -- Gronkowski -- was healthy and had the necessary experience in the system to warrant extensive reps.)

“We just played football," Pollard said when asked about slowing Gronkowski. “He’s a big target -- you can’t miss him out there. We just knew where he was at at all times. I think we did a really good job.”

“He’s a big player for us, and I think as a tight end you have a different role,” Brady said Wednesday when asked about Gronkowski. “You’re run-blocking, you’re pass-blocking, you’re catching passes. This particular game it wasn’t as productive in the pass game, but he has his weeks, also. He’s a big player in this offense and his role and what we ask him to do. Hopefully we just score more points. I don’t really care who gets the ball, I just hope we can score more points than the other team.”

Taking a closer look at the numbers, according to Sam Monson of Pro Football Focus, Gronkowski was kept in to work as a blocker on eight snaps against the Ravens -- the same number as against the Titans in Week 1 and just one more than against the Cardinals in Week 2. But even taking that into account, Monson said a look at the first three weeks indicates that Gronkowski is working more as a blocker in pass protection this season than he was in year’s past.

‘“Last year, he only had two games with more than seven snaps pass blocking, and he averaged 4.3 snaps per game in that role. That’s compared to 35.6 snaps per game running routes,” Monson said. ”If you look at it game-by-game, the Patriots clearly adjusted his role as the year went on -- only once from Week 10 onwards was he in to protect on more than four snaps.”

As a result, it’s no surprise that his numbers are slightly off last year’s pace. Through three games in 2012, Gronkowski has 14 catches for 156 yards and two touchdowns. At this point last season, he had 17 catches for 281 yards and five touchdowns.

It’s worth mentioning that Gronkowski went through a pair of similar dips in production last season and still managed to get through the year with record numbers for a tight end. In October, there was a two-game span (against the Raiders and Jets) when he had a combined five catches for 46 yards and no touchdowns. And in December, a four-catch outing against the Broncos prompted more speculation about Gronkowski’s work as a blocker as opposed to working more as a pass-catcher.

As for this season, it remains to be seen if this is just an abnormal spike in Gronkowski’s workload as a blocker or if he’ll work more in this capacity in he future. (Monson wonders if Gronkowski’s increased workload as a blocker this season is to help out an offensive line that’s in a state of flux.) For all the excitement about his work as a pass-catcher, he remains one of New England’s best blockers -- his work clearing the way for running back Stevan Ridley in the Week 1 win over the Titans was amazing.

“Certainly Rob can do a lot of good things for our team, so anytime that he gets involved in the passing game, I think it’s a positive thing for us,” McDaniels said. “At the same time, with the position that he plays, there are definitely occasions when we ask him to protect and do things in the pass-protection game that give some of our other players an opportunity to get open on other schemes, too.”