Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski has made public appearances looking fit and healthy, but for some reason he was held out of practice at the team’s mandatory minicamp. Coach Bill Belichick isn’t saying why, and neither is Gronk.
Gronkowski told the Boston Herald that he was engaged in activities off the field but otherwise deferred to Belichick’s policy of staying mum.
“I was present, but I was doing other things with other players,” Gronkowski said. “Just not on the field, but we were present doing, as Bill said, ‘other things.’ I’ll keep it right there.”
Gronkowski said he and Belichick are “on the same page” about his status, but he doesn’t know if Belichick will hold him out of the preseason.
“I have no clue,” he said. “I don’t discuss it. It’s all up to the coaches. Right now, I’m just working out, running every day . . . weekends doing camps, having fun and just getting prepared so that when camp does show up, I’m ready to go.”
The injury-prone Gronkowski is always ready to go when the season starts, as long as he’s healthy. It sounds like the Patriots have simply decided to hold him out of anything that might cause an injury before the season begins.