Rob Gronkowski was at a crossroads. He was worried about his football future. At 28, given his extensive list of injuries and surgeries, the latest forcing him to miss Super Bowl LI, Gronk seemed closer to retirement than the quarterback whose locker is a few seats away.

Gronkowski always has marvelled at how well Tom Brady, who turns 40 Thursday, has persevered.

So 12 weeks ago, still feeling a little rough and ragged, Gronk took some advice from the five-time Super Bowl winner.

Hoping to extend his NFL shelf life, the all-world tight end agreed to commit to working with Brady’s body coach and business partner, Alex Guerrero, who runs TB12 Sports Therapy Center at Patriot Place.

“Just looking at Tom, seeing what he does every day, what he eats, talking to him, personally one-on-one, just learning about the body with him, just seeing how flexible he is, how pliable he is, how loose he is all the time, every day and ready to go, I just felt like it was the time in my career where I needed to devote myself at all levels,” Gronkowski told the Herald Friday, shortly before a session at TB12.

Gronkowski stressed this is an add-on to what he does at the stadium, and the objective is very clear. He wants to find a better way to avoid injury and stay on the field. Obviously, he can’t help it if opponents take out his knees or if he accidentally knocks heads. That’s football. It happens no matter the safeguards taken.

He just no longer wants to go down to the nagging muscular injuries or even back problems that have plagued him throughout his career. He loves to play, and wants to be on the field. With his NFL clock ticking, he doesn’t want that time spent on the sidelines.

“I just felt like I had to add on to what I was doing. Find a way that my body will respond so I can perform every day. Be in prevention mode for injuries happening,” said Gronkowski, who recently had his deal restructured with incentives that if reached would make him the highest paid tight end in the league. “I definitely feel like a brand new guy just being able to do exercises here (at TB12). Exercises that help stabilize your core, exercises that help me and my whole body.”

Asked how he felt after a third back surgery, and having to be a spectator at the Super Bowl, and whether it gave him pause to worry about how much longer he could play given the injury history, Gronkowski admitted it was a concern.

“With the past I’ve had, you worry about (the future). I wanted to find a way to fix that,” he said. “I wanted to find a way to make me feel good all the time and not worry. Coming here has definitely put me in that right direction.”

While Guerrero has had his detractors and controversies — he was investigated by the Federal Trade Commission, sued by the federal government and banned by the FTC from promoting certain products — Brady stands by him, as do other Patriots players Julian Edelman, Chris Hogan, Danny Amendola and even Patriots Hall of Famer Willie McGinest.

Now Gronk appears to be a convert. He started at TB12 in May, was evaluated, put on a program, and given a foundation for the start of the season to try and keep him healthy.

“I’m getting massage therapy, I’m learning about hydration, I’m learning about nutrition,” he said. “It’s helping me expand my game.”

The best news is Gronkowski has looked terrific during the first few days of workouts, and even better, he said he feels great — better than he has in a long time.

The result of the program — which includes lots of band resistance work to help stabilize his core, deep-tissue massage to help with blood flow, and a better diet — and working at TB12 four days a week is a body that’s more pliable, according to Gronk.

“I haven’t lost a single pound. But my body is working more efficiently. Everyone thinks I’m skinnier,” Gronk said with a smile. “I feel looser. I feel my mobility has increased a lot. I feel way more pliable.”

Asked about the diet, Gronkowski said he wasn’t as maniacal or vigilant as Brady just yet.

Avocado ice cream?

“I’m not to that level, no. Maybe one day I’ll get to that level,” he said. “One step at a time (laughing).”

Gronk also claimed he daily eats one of Brady’s preferred meals that are plant-based. And here’s the kicker: Brady cooks it for him.

“Tom’s my chef. I told him I’m only eating them if you have them ready for me,” Gronkowski said. “And he said, ‘Deal.’ ”

Brady, of course, doesn’t drink alcohol.

As for Gronk?

He hasn’t quite given that up. He’s still a party boy at heart. But to make up for that there’s a price to pay.

“Yeah, ask the guru,” Gronkowski said, referring to Guerrero.

We did ask the guru, and here’s how it works. For every drink that’s not on the plan, such as coffee or an alcoholic beverage, you have to consume at least three glasses of water to make up for cheating, to offset the ramifications. So, let’s just say Gronk is drinking tons of water.

Guerrero, meanwhile, indicated that 12 weeks into the program, Gronkowski is on course and doing fine. He’s eliminated a lot of foods that would slow down his recovery process and is doing a lot of the same things Brady does. The goal is to change how his body moves to help keep him injury-free.

“Rob has been really committed,” Guerrero said Friday. “He’s done a great job. The foundation has been set. Certainly, we’re not done.”

Time will tell just how well Gronk does incorporating the TB12 method.

Faulk applauds RB corps

Kevin Faulk, in attendance at Raymond Clayborn’s Hall of Fame induction ceremony outside the Hall at Patriot Place yesterday, said he was “excited” about the team’s current running back group.

He thinks Dion Lewis will have a good season with this being his second year back from ACL surgery, and is pleased how James White emerged during the postseason.

“You can see how much he’s grown over time,” Faulk said in a phone conversation earlier last week. “For one of the greatest quarterbacks to dial your number that many times in the Super Bowl game, that tells you the trust factor he had in him.”

White, of course, scored the game-winning touchdown with a second-effort run down by the goal line, and also had a Super Bowl record 14 receptions.

BU CTE findings resonate

There are still aftershocks being felt from the latest findings from the Boston University Medical School study on brain trauma, a post-mortem test for chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, that came up positive for 110 of the 111 brains donated from deceased NFL players.

Former Patriots linebacker Ted Johnson, who suffered multiple concussions during his 10 seasons in the NFL, believes the more knowledge players have, the better the decision-making will be when it comes to playing and trying best to prevent brain injuries.

Ultimately, Johnson hopes one day there’s a test that would likely make the decision very easy for all.

“If they’re able to find the imaging technology to detect CTE in the living, that would be a game-changer,” Johnson told the Herald. “I think it would impact the future of football if guys could get tested while they’re alive for CTE. I think guys will look at the imaging scans of their brains, and go, ‘Oh, my god!’ ”

Murray not feeling age

Titans running back DeMarco Murray, who turns 30 early next year, doesn’t seem to be worried about hitting that dreaded age wall.

Murray led the AFC in rushing last season with 1,287 yards and doesn’t plan on missing a beat.

“When you think of some of the great running backs, they’ve played well into their 30s,” Murray told the Tennessean. “I pride myself on taking care of my body, not just during the season but yearly, and I know what it takes to withstand a full 16-game stretch in this league. . . .

“I’m very confident in my abilities and my work ethic to make sure I’m physically prepared to withstand whatever they want, whatever they ask me to do here. Hopefully it’s a lot more, and we’ll see from there.”