Tre’Davious White said Wednesday that he has moved past the incident with New England star tight end Rob Gronkowski, and it won’t be an issue — at least for him — when the two come face to face Sunday afternoon at Gillette Stadium.
“I got over it, and I’m past it; I’m focused on winning,” White said. “I can forgive and forget.”
When the Patriots beat the Bills 23-3 on Dec. 3 in Buffalo, Gronkowski jumped on White and delivered a forearm shot to his head as he lay prone on the ground after making a fourth-quarter interception. It was as dirty a play as you’ll ever see, and while White wound up in concussion protocol, Gronkowski was dealt a one-game suspension that many people felt should have been longer than that.
White was able to return to the field that next week as the Bills beat the Colts, and without Gronkowski, the Patriots lost to the Dolphins. Of course, Gronkowski was back in action last week and caught nine passes for 168 yards as New England defeated Pittsburgh. Justice may not have been served, but White is glad Gronkowski is playing Sunday.
“I want him to be out there; I want to face the best guys,” said the ultra-confident first-round draft pick who is in the running for NFL defensive rookie of the year honors. “He missed the next game, but we want to see him. We want to get them at their best.”
That comment is one reason why coach Sean McDermott is so high on White as a player, and as a person. “The part I love about Tre’Davious is he has a burning desire to improve his game every week,” said McDermott. “That’ll serve him well moving forward.”
McDermott said he didn’t need to remind White to put the Gronkowski hit in his rearview mirror. “Any time we spend discussing that situation is wasted time and getting in our way of becoming a better football team,” McDermott. “We have a lot of respect for him as a player. He’s certainly one of the best, or certainly, if not one of the best, the best that I’ve been around at the position in 20 some years in the NFL.”
White admitted he was very upset in the days after the cheap shot, but he said Wednesday that it may have been unnecessary lamenting on his part.
“It was still lingering on me, but as I got a chance to think about it, that was childish,” he said. “It wasn’t the way things should’ve been handled or how the game played out or the things after it played out. It shouldn’t have been that way, but it happened, and I’m moved on from it.”
White is having a superb season. He has been on the field for almost every defensive snap this season, he leads all rookies with 18 passes defensed, and he’s the only defensive back in the league with that many passes defensed, plus four interceptions and two fumble recoveries. He also has a touchdown.
It was the type of performance that warranted Pro Bowl consideration, but he was left off the AFC squad as Jacksonville’s A.J. Bouye and Jalen Ramsey earned the starting positions, and Los Angeles Chargers Casey Hayward and Denver’s Aqib Talib were chosen as the backups. White didn’t even make the alternate list, and he felt like he got snubbed.
“Oh, absolutely, man,” he said. “I’m a competitor and I felt like my play speaks for itself. You never know how this stuff goes, but I definitely was disappointed because I felt I was well deserving of being in.”
The Bills have more important issues on their plate this week, though. They are firmly entrenched in the AFC playoff race, and White understands that’s the main focus, not Pro Bowl snubs.
“I’m thinking about winning, I’m trying to get into the playoffs, man,” he said. “That’s what I’m thinking about right there. One-game season, get into the playoffs and try to end that 17-year streak.”