Sunday’s NFL slate had a little bit of everything: rain pounding the nation’s capital, the defending champs slipping on a soggy field, a Detroit running back turning screen passes into poetry, and a pair of former Patriots legends sitting in front of a microphone trying to make sense of it all. Week 3 of the NFL season was messy, exhilarating, and full of players stepping up when the moment demanded it. For Rob Gronkowski and Julian Edelman, the hosts of “Gronk & Jules,” that meant making a choice. Since the segment debuted in Week 1, they have handed out their “Employee of the Week” to the players who didn’t just put up numbers, but who made you sit up and take notice. This week, the picks fell on two totally different sides of the football—and two totally different career paths. Edelman tapped Washington Commanders quarterback Marcus Mariota, who delivered a gritty, mistake-free performance in a rain-soaked upset of the defending Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks. Gronkowski, true to his flair for the big play, went with Detroit Lions running back Jahmyr Gibbs, the electric playmaker who treated the New York Jets like they were practice cones. Both picks made sense. Both players earned it. And both performances gave fans a reminder that the NFL’s middle weeks are where reputations are built and legacies get a new coat of paint.
Gronkowski’s choice was rooted in pure admiration, the kind you can hear in his voice when he talks about a player who makes the impossible look routine. “I’m going with Jahmyr Gibbs from Detroit,” Gronkowski said on the latest episode of “Gronk & Jules.” “The way he flashes across the field. 164 yards total, three touchdowns. This guy is just a specimen. He can take anything to the house at any time.” Against the Jets, Gibbs carried the ball 20 times for 99 yards and two rushing touchdowns, but it was his work in the passing game that truly made the difference. He caught seven passes for 65 yards, including an 11-yard touchdown catch in the fourth quarter that put the Lions ahead for good in a 31-24 win. It was the kind of performance that makes defensive coordinators lose sleep, because Gibbs isn’t just a running back—he’s a weapon who can hurt you from anywhere on the field, on any down, in any weather. The game pushed his season total to six touchdowns through three weeks, and it moved him past Billy Sims into second place on the Lions’ all-time rushing touchdown list, with 43 scores for Detroit. The only name above him now? Barry Sanders, with 99. That’s the kind of company that comes with a heavy dose of respect. What makes it even more notable is that this wasn’t the first time Gronkowski chose Gibbs this season. He also picked him in Week 1, when Gibbs scored twice against the New Orleans Saints and became the sixth player in NFL history to reach 50 career touchdowns within his first 50 games. Gronkowski had already predicted before the season that Gibbs would be a leading Offensive Player of the Year candidate, and so far, the Lions back is doing everything in his power to make that prediction look smart. “I actually had him winning Offensive Player of the Year in my preseason picks,” Gronkowski said. “It’s already three weeks. There’s so much been happening, but he’s my favorite running back in the NFL.”
On the other side of the ball, Julian Edelman had a very different kind of Employee of the Week in mind. Edelman went with Marcus Mariota, and you could tell this pick meant something personal. Mariota stepped in for the injured Jayden Daniels and delivered a performance that was less about flash and more about toughness, which is exactly the kind of football Edelman appreciates. Mariota completed 19 of 31 passes for 183 yards and three touchdowns, with no turnovers, in a 33-31 win over the Seattle Seahawks. The conditions were terrible, the pressure was real, and the opponent was the defending Super Bowl champion, but Mariota stayed calm in the pocket and made the throws that mattered. “That’s a big-time win, beating the defending Super Bowl champs in a s—tyweather game,” Edelman said. “You had three touchdowns, no turnovers. I love that. I’m giving the game ball to Marcus Mariota.” It was Mariota’s first start of the season, and he made it count, throwing touchdown passes to Rachaad White, Treylon Burks, and Terry McLaurin on a wet afternoon at Northwest Stadium. It was also his first three-touchdown game since 2022, which tells you how much this particular moment meant for a veteran quarterback who has been through a lot in his career. For Edelman, the choice was about more than just stats. It was about showing up when everything around you feels slippery and uncertain. It was about having the presence of mind to protect the football when the game was hanging in the balance. And it was about beating a team that everyone expected to win, on a day when the weather was ugly and the path forward was even uglier.
What makes these two picks so interesting is how different they look at first glance. Gibbs is a young, explosive, highlight-reel machine who makes his living by doing things that simply shouldn’t be possible on a football field. Mariota is a veteran quarterback, a former No. 2 overall pick, who has bounced around the league and is now thriving in a backup role because he still knows how to play winning football. One pick is about the future of the NFL. The other is about the kind of resilience that keeps you in the league for a long time. But if you look closer, both picks are about the same thing: making a difference when the lights are brightest. Gibbs changed the game with a fourth-quarter touchdown that broke the Jets’ will. Mariota managed a chaotic, rainy, road-like atmosphere in his own stadium and never flinched. There’s a reason Gronkowski and Edelman have made this segment work since the start of the season. It’s not about picking the biggest name or the flashiest stat line every week. It’s about recognizing the players who do the dirty work, who make the critical play, and who give their team a reason to believe. In Week 3, Gibbs and Mariota both did that in their own way, and that’s why they were both handed a metaphorical time card and told to clock in for another week of excellence.
There’s also a human element to both performances that shouldn’t get lost in the numbers. For Gibbs, this is the moment he’s been building toward since he entered the league. There was already a lot of hype around him when he and the Lions drafted him as a young, versatile playmaker, but moments like this are what turn potential into a legacy. Playing in Detroit, a franchise with a passionate fan base that has seen so many ups and downs, Gibbs has quickly become the kind of player who gives people a reason to tune in every Sunday. Moving past Billy Sims on the all-time rushing touchdown list is a big deal, especially for a young player still carving out his identity, and the fact that he’s only behind Barry Sanders tells you just how special he has been. For Mariota, this game felt like a redemption story and a reminder that he can still play at a high level. He has started games before, he has won games before, and he has experienced the harsh side of the league, too. But when Washington needed him most, with Daniels injured and the schedule not getting any easier, Mariota stepped into a difficult spot and delivered. That kind of reliability is often more valuable than 300-yard games and highlight-reel touchdowns. It’s the quiet confidence that can carry a team through the long season. Edelman, a former slot receiver who made a career out of doing the unglamorous things, recognized that instantly. He didn’t need Mariota to be perfect. He just needed Mariota to be steady, and that’s exactly what he was.
Looking ahead, both players have a chance to build on these performances in Week 4, and the storylines are already taking shape. Mariota and the Commanders are heading to London to face the Indianapolis Colts in one of those cross-continent games that always have a strange energy around them. The early wake-up calls, the long flight, the unfamiliar turf—none of it will matter if Mariota can carry the same composure from the Seattle game into a different time zone and against a different defense. It won’t be easy, especially because the NFL is a league where momentum can disappear as quickly as it arrives, but Mariota has already shown he can handle a tough spot. Meanwhile, Gibbs and the Lions travel to face the Carolina Panthers, and if the Panthers have any sense, they’ll spend their entire week trying to figure out how to slow down a running back who is currently playing like one of the best offensive players in football. That’s a rough assignment, especially for a defense that has had its own consistency issues. Gibbs is averaging an absurd number of touches and touchdowns, and he’s proving week after week that he can be the engine of an entire offense. The Employee of the Week award was already a nice honor, but the real prize is what these players are building: a season that people will remember. Whether it’s a veteran quarterback proving he still belongs or a young running back announcing himself as a superstar, Week 3 was a reminder that the NFL is full of stories that can change in a single afternoon. And if you want to keep up with every twist and turn, the FOX Sports newsletter is there for you, bringing your teams, your leagues, and your players straight to your inbox each day. For now, Mariota and Gibbs can enjoy the recognition, but the schedule doesn’t slow down for anyone. The Employee of the Week is just a small moment in a long season, but in the NFL, small moments often become the foundation for something much bigger.
