FOXBOROUGH — Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski said he had no setbacks in his recovery from an ailing hamstring after he played against the Texans last Thursday night.

“I felt good, definitely,’’ said Gronkowski. “You’re always sore no matter what after playing a game. No matter if you play 10 plays or 70 plays, definitely sore like any other game. But no setbacks, no nothing. Feeling good and just progressing every day.’’

If Gronkowski is indeed progressing on a daily basis, he should be able to play more than the 14 snaps he played against Houston when Buffalo visits on Sunday. Gronkowski was at practice both Tuesday and Wednesday.

Gronkowski may get more involved as a receiver after he functioned almost exclusively as a blocker against the Texans. Asked if he felt normal while he was on the field, Gronkowski said the Patriots used him “in the plays where they felt more comfortable, and when I was in those plays, I felt like I was ready to roll.’’

Part of the hesitancy is due to the nagging nature of hamstring injuries. Gronkowski tweaked his simply running a route during a training camp drill.

“You’ve got to be careful with any injury,’’ he said, “but I mean, if you research hamstrings, if you know anything about hamstrings, you’ve definitely got to be careful. You’ve got to progress. You can’t just hop back in and be full-go 100 percent.

“I wish it was like that. I can’t wait until I’m going freaking crazy out there again. So I’m just progressing myself into it and feeling better every single day.’’

The big tight end said he watches a lot of tape and focuses on deciphering coverages when he’s kept off the field. Even with all that studying, however, Gronkowski said a Rex Ryan defense can still surprise.

“You can see seven defensive backs in the game at once, you can see four safeties in the game, or you can see four linebackers in the game,’’ Gronkowski said. “You can see two DBs, all linebackers, all linemen.

“You never know what Rex Ryan is going to do, so you’ve got to be ready with anything at any time, and his players are always ready, too, to bring it.’’

Gang’s all here

All hands were on deck — even the taped-up ones — at practice for the second straight day.

Jimmy Garoppolo, who is recovering from a sprained AC joint in his right, throwing shoulder, and Jacoby Brissett, who had his right wrist and thumb taped for the second straight day after injuring it last week, were present and accounted for during the media access portion of the full-pads workout.

Garoppolo and Brissett threw passes to staffers during the media window.

Also practicing was linebacker Dont’a Hightower, who missed the last two games with a knee injury.

Defensive tackle Anthony Johnson, who was cut earlier in the week, has joined the practice squad, replacing offensive lineman Ian Silberman.

Feet of strength

Patriots punter Ryan Allen was named AFC Special Teams Player of the Week after he landed six of seven punts inside the Texans’ 15-yard line, a career high.

“I felt good, physically I felt good,’’ said Allen, who averaged 47.6 yards per punt, with no return yards.

“I didn’t hit any out of bounds, which means, I mean, if the gunners didn’t do a good job getting down the field and forcing a lot of pressure on the returner and if our protection doesn’t protect, we probably wouldn’t have had the same outcome,’’ Allen said. “So it’s a good collective effort.’’

Allen’s seven punts were downed at the 20-, 11-, 10-, 10-, 14-, 5-, and 4-yard lines, the first time in his career he’s landed more than five punts inside the 20.

Crank call

Ryan, posing as “Walt Patulski from the Buffalo News,’’ sneaked in a question during Julian Edelman’s conference call with reporters. “Are you playing quarterback this week?’’ asked Ryan, not one to beat around the bush. Edelman parried the question deftly. “Well, I’m going to do whatever the coaches ask me to do,’’ he said, “so if they ask me to go out and give a glass of water to someone on the sideline, I’m going to do that with a smile on my face to help our team win, so . . . you’ll have to ask coach that one.’’ . . . Bill Belichick’s miked-up segment from the Texans game aired Tuesday night on Showtime’s “Inside the NFL.’’ Highlights include a pregame chat with former Patriots defensive coordinator Romeo Crennel in which Belichick asks if Crennel is “trying to figure out who is going to play? So are we. You might need a program for some of those numbers.’’ Belichick also comments to offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels that Brissett looked a little “wild’’ during warm-ups before McDaniels assures him Brissett will settle down in the game. Special teams coordinator Joe Judge asks Belichick if he wants to go for a touchback on a kickoff, to which Belichick responds, “No, make them run it.’’ Charles James fumbled on the ensuing return.

Jim McBride of the Globe staff contributed to this report. Nora Princiotti can be reached at nora.princiotti@globe.com. Follow her on Twitter at @NoraPrinciotti.