Super Bowl Capsules: Pats WR Ochocinco, head down, heads to big game

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) — Chad Ochocinco is going to the Super Bowl again, and this time he will be in uniform, answering questions, instead of causing a commotion by asking them.

He might even get on the field.

The Patriots receiver is returning to the NFL's title game, changed but not chastened since his time as a spotlight-seeking superstar who crashed the big party two years running as the lead correspondent for the "Ochocinco News Network." After a decade of losing in Cincinnati — and having too much fun doing it — Ochocinco swallowed his considerable ego to fit in better in New England, a franchise that likes its players boring.

The payoff: a trip to the Super Bowl for a player who had never won a postseason game.

"It's been a learning experience; that's what this has been. This had been one of the most humbling experiences I've ever been in," he said Thursday as he prepared for the Feb. 5 game against the New York Giants. "This is one of the first times I've been about doing exactly what everyone told me to do. It wasn't about the numbers. It wasn't about money. It wasn't about me."

Does he regret the tradeoff?

"No!" he said with an expletive and a smile, "because I've done the other thing over and over."

"I'm happy, but the competitive side of me is (angry)," he said. "Does that make sense?"

Little about Ochocinco's time in New England does. A six-time Pro Bowl selection who had more than 1,000 yards receiving in a seven-year span, Ochocinco was acquired by the Patriots over the summer for an undisclosed draft pick. It was a low-risk move for New England coach Bill Belichick, the kind that paid off for him when Randy Moss caught a record-setting 23 touchdowns in the 16-0 regular season of 2007.

"It didn't happen that way," Ochocinco said. "I think God did not want it that way. I think he put me to the test."

Ochocinco has struggled to find a place in the offense, catching just 15 passes for 276 yards and one touchdown this season — all career lows. During the playoffs, he has been even more invisible: He was on the field for just one play in the divisional playoff against Denver; last week, after missing practice to be at his father's funeral, he was on the inactive list for the game.

"I handled myself with the utmost professionalism," Ochocinco said. "I busted my (butt), didn't pout — that's what I do: 'Give me the rock!' But I didn't do what people thought I would do. Even I thought I was going to do it."

If anything good can be said about Ochocinco's contributions this year, it's that he wasn't as bad as defensive lineman Albert Haynesworth, New England's other big-name reclamation project. A two-time Pro Bowl selection with Tennessee, Haynesworth was a bust with the Redskins and again with the Patriots before they cut him in November. But even as he left him to stew on the sidelines, Belichick had no complaints about Ochocinco.

"Chad has worked hard," the coach said. "He's made a very good effort to do everything we've asked him to do on and off the field."

His teammates also commended his hard work.

"He's a good teammate. You can't complain about anything. You can't argue," running back Kevin Faulk said. "He's at work every day unless it's a situation, family matters or whatever happened last week. But he's at work every day having fun. He's a professional. You've got to handle it well."

During his 10 seasons in Cincinnati, the receiver did everything he could to get his name in the headlines — whether it was his original name, Chad Johnson, or the one he legally adopted as a Spanish shout-out to his uniform No. 85. He predicted victories, trashed opponents, made lists of cornerbacks who failed to stop him, sent gifts to opposing locker rooms and invited fans to help him think up new end zone antics.

His touchdown celebrations — using a pylon as a golf club, performing CPR on the football, doing a jig, donning a Hall of Fame jacket — led to repeated fines and an NFL crackdown. Bengals coach Marvin Lewis grew so frustrated that he once called him "Ocho Psycho," but the receiver couldn't tone it down. Nor did he want to.

"I cannot perform at a high level and not be Chad. It's impossible," he said during the 2007 season. "I cannot and will not change."

And it wasn't just on the field: Ochocinco was a contestant on "Dancing With the Stars" and hosted a cable dating show; when the Bengals signed friend Terrell Owens in 2010, the duo dubbed themselves "Batman and Robin" and co-starred in the weekly "TOcho Show" on a cable network.

Under the guise of the online Ochocinco News Network, he has attended the Super Bowl as a reporter the past two years, asking questions of the teams during media sessions and even grilling commissioner Roger Goodell last year on the prospects of avoiding a lockout. It was Ochocinco's only chance to see the big game: With their duo of divas, the Bengals lost 10 straight games and finished 4-12; Owens left the Bengals as a free agent, and Ochocinco was traded to New England. They were not missed.

"Sometimes stars are born from y'all, not necessarily success on the football field," Cincinnati tackle Andrew Whitworth told reporters this season. "Some guys run their mouths a lot or say a lot of things so they get a lot of attention. It doesn't mean they always play football the way it is supposed to be played."

But Ochocinco gave it all up to fit in with the Patriots. Well, maybe not all of it.

Ochocinco found a new outlet for his attention-seeking that is largely beyond the league's control: Twitter. With 3.1 million followers and 32,000 tweets, he has embraced the social network and is one of its most active athletes.

"This is the whole point of Twitter, which is good for me," he said at his locker in the Patriots stadium on Thursday. "The mainstream media, they had control of my image, telling people what I'm about. Twitter allows me to take back that control. It cuts out the middleman and lets me show who I really am."

While watching President Barack Obama's State of the Union address on Tuesday night, Ochocinco began tweeting about the "guy over Obama's left shoulder (who) doesn't seem very happy." It was John Boehner, the speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, who responded and made plans for a meetup with Ochocinco after the Patriots' season is over.

"For him to contact me back, it's awesome," said Ochocinco, who was intrigued to hear that Boehner is second in the presidential line of succession, after the vice president. "He's a pretty powerful man, then. ... Me and the president of Mexico tweet back all the time. That's two powerful people."

Gronkowski misses practice with ankle injury

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) — The Super Bowl ankle jinx has struck the New England Patriots again. Tight end Rob Gronkowski missed the team's first practice for the game Thursday with a left ankle injury. Four years earlier, quarterback Tom Brady skipped practice for a week before the game with an injured right ankle.

Both offensive stars were hurt in the third quarter of the AFC championship game. Brady recovered enough to play against the New York Giants. The Patriots hope Gronkowski does the same.

"It's the Super Bowl, so we're all trying to get out there and be healthy," Brady said Thursday. "You put all the work in over the course of the entire year and have the opportunity to play in this game. Everyone's going to be doing everything they can to be out there."

The Patriots have given no details on the extent of Gronkowski's injury and he was not available during the period when reporters had locker room access. But with more than a week before the Super Bowl on Feb. 5, there's no need to rush him back.

He returned to last Sunday's 23-20 win over the Baltimore Ravens in the fourth quarter, about five minutes after being helped off the field and going to the locker room with a slight limp. He was hurt in the final minute of the third quarter after catching a 23-yard pass from Brady.

After the victory, Gronkowski remained on the field, raised over his head the Lamar Hunt Trophy that goes to the AFC champions and yelled in celebration as fans cheered.

The next day, just as Brady was in 2008, Gronkowski was seen wearing a protective boot on his injured ankle. Aaron Hernandez, the versatile half of the Patriots unique tight end combination, said Thursday the usually upbeat Gronkowski seems cheerful.

"I'm sure he'll be fine," Hernandez said. "He's full of excitement, never in a bad mood, always happy. So I'm pretty sure he's still happy."

Coach Bill Belichick, typically, was less revealing. Asked how Gronkowski was progressing, he said, "good, good."

And he was noncommittal on how the Patriots would be affected if Gronkowski plays in the Super Bowl without practicing for it.

"We'll just have to see, you know," Belichick said. "He's not going to practice today, so take it day by day. I'm not going to try to forecast where things will be 10 days from now. We'll just take it day by day."

But what if the powerful pass catcher can't play against the Giants?

How would they do without the 6-foot-6, glue-fingered receiver and dominating blocker who set an NFL record for tight ends with 17 touchdown catches and finished fifth in the NFL with 90 receptions and sixth with 1,327 yards receiving?

"If he's not here, then it's obviously going to be a lot tougher on me," Hernandez said. "He draws so much attention because of how big he is, how physical, his speed. So it makes it a lot easier on me. It makes me into a better player."

Giants coach Tom Coughlin knows how important Gronkowski is to the Patriots.

"This is a player who has written the record books along the way for tight ends," he said. "Gronkowski certainly is someone Brady looks to in the red zone."

That doesn't mean the Patriots can't win with Gronkowski at less than full strength — or sidelined altogether. Running back Kevin Faulk, a member of the Patriots since 1999, doesn't think that should affect them.

"One guy is not supposed to stop us. We're supposed to execute no matter what," Faulk said. "It's the game. Next guy up. You know it's been the story around here forever. Prime example is Tom Brady."

In 2008, Brady suffered a season-ending knee injury in the opener and the Patriots went 11-5 with Matt Cassel filling in.

"Tom Brady went down, everybody thought the season was dead," Faulk said. "It's the game. It's the system. It's what we do. Next guy up, somebody got hurt."

The durable Gronkowski has played in all 35 games since the Patriots drafted him in the second round out of Arizona. Belichick said he took part in just about all of this season's practices before Thursday.

Hernandez is the only other tight end on the roster. On Thursday, the Patriots signed to the practice squad tight end Carson Butler, who spent most of the 2010 season on their practice squad and was released Sept. 2. But he wasn't seen during the 15 minutes when reporters could observe.

So Hernandez was a lonely sight, stretching and drinking Gatorade before drills began.

"A little boring," he said, "but (Gronkowski) will be out there soon."

Just like Brady was four years ago.

"I wasn't going to miss that game," he said. "I don't miss many. I certainly wasn't going to miss that one."

-- Howard Ulman

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