FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski had a relatively quiet day by his impressive standards. The centerpiece of the Patriots’ receiving attack had four catches for 71 yards and a touchdown.

The score came on a highlight reel, catch-and-rumble play late in the game in which he swatted off would-be tacklers and then hurdled into the end zone for the 26-yard score. But that was far from his most impressive contribution to the game.

He was as physical and energetic as he has been all season coming back from the torn ACL suffered last December. He was a conspicuously dominant force as a blocker, helping New England run for a season-high 244 yards.

He also went at it often with former teammate Sergio Brown, the guy who was actually rushing a PAT attempt in Gronkowski’s area when the tight end broke his left arm in 2012.

Gronkowski’s energy and frustration boiled over on one of teammate Jonas Gray’s four touchdown runs. In the fourth quarter, Gronk was called for unnecessary roughness and taunting after he blocked Brown off the field and into a cameraman.

“He was just yappin’ at me the whole time,” Gronkowski told NBC. “So I took him and threw him out of the club.”

That was one of many plays in which Gronk’s blocking was almost the highlight of the play and every bit as entertaining as some of those catches that make him one of the top tight ends in the NFL.

He was that extra force that gave New England’s evolving offensive line a big advantage over the Indianapolis Colts’ undersized front seven.

Since opening the season without former star guard Logan Mankins, the offensive line has struggled to find improvement and continuity up front. In recent weeks that has led to a lineup that includes left tackle Nate Solder, left guard Dan Connolly, rookie center Bryan Stork, right guard Ryan Wendell and right tackle Sebastian Vollmer.

That, and the addition of Gronkowski as a run blocker, was the lineup Sunday night in Indy and the results speak for themselves. New England had a season-best 244 yards rushing in the 42-20 road win. Tom Brady was not sacked. Gray ran away with the victory.

“I thought we controlled the line of scrimmage, which was huge, and Jonas ran great,” Brady said. “But it all starts with the big guys up front and they played a great game. We had great protection. I thought they played really well up front, so that’s what we are going to need.”