There was rightfully a ton of excitement when Rob Gronkowski came out of retirement and was traded to the Bucs. But it was also fair to question how he would look after a year away from the game.

A young Gronkowski was the best in the league, which included a 2011 season where his 17 touchdown receptions crushed the single season tight end record in the same fashion that he spikes the ball after scores. The Gronkowksi from two and three seasons ago was still one of the best in the game, but multiple injuries particularly to his back, knee and forearm had seriously weighed him down.

As training camp rolls on, Gronkowski has looked like the type of tight end that got him on the NFL’s all-time team.

“It looks like he was five or six years ago before all the injuries and the back surgeries,” Bruce Arians said last week. “He had a year of healing. He looks to me like he was five-six years ago. He’s got great body control, the stiffness I saw at the end of his career with all the injuries, looks like it’s gone”

The first thing that you really notice about Gronkowksi is his size. What’s caught the attention of the coaching staff, though, is his athletic ability.

TE Rob Gronkowski – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

“The most amazing thing about Gronk is as big a guy he is, he’s athletic,” said Bucs tight end coach Rick Christophel. “He can do a lot of things, he’s got some quick twitch movements. But everything that you’ve seen, being away and seeing him play, watching him on film, watching him on the television, I think the most important thing is that it matters to him. He loves to play the game, he has fun out there, but it matters to him. When he makes a mistake it hurts him. Like Tom, he wants to win, I think that’s a big component of what makes his personality.”

Gronkowski said he’s having fun being back out on the field, and that the season away has worked well for him.

“I’m feeling good out there,” Gronkowski said. “My body feels good, that’s why I came back to the game and that’s how I wanna be moving. I wanna be moving like how I was back in the day, no doubt about that. I’m here to move, I’m here to make plays, I’m here to block in the run game and I’m here to make plays in the pass game.”

At 31 years old, Gronkokwski has learned that he can’t just treat his body the same way that he did when he first came into the league. Having a full year really helped him with preparing his body to be in top shape to take on a full season.

“I think taking a year off, starting to understand my body,” Gronkowski said about what helped him to get ready. “I believe that you gotta truly understand your body and start taking care of your body especially when you start hitting the age of 27, 28 years old. That’s kind of where I started hitting my little decline, I wouldn’t really say I wasn’t out there doing work, I was still out there doing what I needed to in my job, but when those ages hit but you gotta understand your body.”

“Working with Tom, working with Alex, who’s Tom’s guy doing TB12, doing other stuff that I think is good for my body, changing up my eating. I believe that when you hit the age of 30 and you want to play in this league, it’s gonna be a full time job. You got to take care of your body 24/7 and that’s what I did when I had the time off.”

Of course there’s football shape and then there’s getting into Florida shape. Arians joked recently that Gronkowski was still in New England shape but not yet in Florida shape as he deals with the weather here in Tampa.

“The humidity is definitely a game changer,” Gronkowski said. “If you’re not used to the humidity it can definitely take an affect on your performance, on your hydration, and when you’re dehydrated, when you’re overheated you may not be able to produce how you want to produce. I would definitely say I’m adapting, I’m adjusting, I’m not there to the full potential of where I wanna be, but definitely adapting to the humidity is a challenge.

TE Rob Gronkowski – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Outside of humidity related issues, Gronkowski admitted that it has taken some time to get up to speed. He had to knock off some rust first, but he feels that his confidence is picking up with each day in training camp.

“The first couple practices it definitely felt a little weird,” Gronkowski said. “The game was really fast when I first got out there again, the defense felt really fast and as time goes on and as the days go on, I feel better about myself being out there. My confidence keeps going up, the game’s slowing down, I’m starting to pickup the offense more, but overall it’s going good. But I got so much more to work on and so much more to improve on, but I am really glad to be here.”

At the end of the day, he feels right at home.

“I feel like I’m supposed to be here,” Gronkowski said. “I’m here to play football now. Going out and just playing ball, it feels good.”