Aaron Hernandez, Patriots" Other Tight End, Is Also a Handful FOXBORO, Mass. - On the fourth play of the Patriots" divisional playoff game against Denver, Aaron Hernandez broke a 43-yard run to the Broncos" 7-yard line. The distance may look unremarkable to some, but it was the third-longest running play in Patriots playoff history and the longest in more than 15 years. Hernandez carried the ball four more times for 18 yards, giving him the most productive rushing performance (61) in N.F.L. playoff history - by a tight end. The Patriots" offense lives to dominate and confuse a defense - and nothing was more eye-opening than seeing Hernandez lining up in the backfield on New England's opening touchdown drive. The Broncos were clearly rattled. The Patriots went 80 yards in five plays in 1 minute 51 seconds. Asked about the Patriots" use of Hernandez in the backfield, Broncos Coach John Fox quipped: "They have used it before, and it's something we've seen. Didn't look like it, but we had seen it. Hernandez and the All-Pro Rob Gronkowski have been potent weapons all season as the Patriots prepare to host Baltimore Sunday in the A.F.C. championship game. Gronkowski has received the lion's share of the publicity. He is going to the Pro Bowl after shattering all tight end receiving records. Gronkowski's lone rushing attempt as a Patriot came against the Indianapolis Colts this season when he managed a 2-yard touchdown - off a lateral. He is the only tight end in New England history to score a rushing touchdown. Hernandez carried the ball five times this season and then added five more carries against the Broncos. The Patriots have that luxury because Hernandez, unlike the massive Gronkowski, is not your prototypical, earth-clearing tight end. He's listed at 6 feet 1 inch, 245 pounds, and can dart like trout when he has the ball. "I wish I had his moves," Gronkowski said. He can really juke it. And almost all of the time, Hernandez's assortment of moves comes after he has caught one of Tom Brady's passes. That happens a lot. Hernandez, a second-year pro and a member of the Florida Gators" 2008 championship team, caught 79 passes for 910 yards and 7 touchdowns this season. Those numbers look rather anemic next to Gronkowski's haul (90 for 1,327 yards and 17 scores), but the 79 receptions were enough to rank Hernandez No. 5 in the A.F.C., despite two missed games because of an injury sustained in the Patriots" Sept. 18 victory over San Diego. "It's pretty impressive at a young age to be able to do that," said Brady, talking about both Gronkowski and Hernandez. The two are linked in more ways than one: draft year, position, outgoing personality, adjacent lockers and even nicknames ("The Boston TE Party" or "Shake and Quake.") "They don't really feel like second-year players to me," Brady continued. They just feel like the tight ends in our offense that are expected to go out and do what they've been doing. At first, Hernandez said his relationship with Gronkowski was difficult. Gronkowski had been drafted in the second round of the 2010 draft, and Hernandez was taken in the fourth round. The two tight ends had followed each other from afar since high school, with Hernandez (from Bristol, Conn.) and Gronkowski (from Pittsburgh) ranked among the top prospects. ESPN ranked Hernandez No. 1, while listing him at an absurd 6-4. Gronkowski was ranked No. But the two did not meet until the 2010 combine after each decided to forgo his senior year in college and, to the surprise of both, met up again that summer when the Patriots opened training camp. "We were in a weird situation," Hernandez recalled. Do we just say hi? Do we not? Are we competing? Do we hate each other? I'm not sure. As soon as they started talking, they discovered they "were both humble people, both very outgoing, love to have fun, a little bit immature, so we got along just great," Hernandez said. Since then, the two have combined to score 41 regular-season touchdowns (and 4 more against Denver). There was some initial concern about Hernandez's availability for Sunday's game against the Ravens after he sustained a mild concussion against the Broncos. It was on a 2-yard run early in the fourth quarter - his final rush of the game. Hernandez was a limited participant at Wednesday's and Thursday's practices, but so were a host of other regulars. He said early in the week that he was fine and would be ready to play.