As Bill Belichick promised, the Patriots issued their first injury report of the Super Bowl bye week but it wasn’t based on actual practice participation.
The Patriots didn’t practice on Wednesday, so the report is a projection of what players would have done if the team was working on the field. In the case of tight end Rob Gronkowski, he would have been on the sideline and not participating due to the concussion he suffered in the AFC Championship Game.
That’s not particularly surprising and Gronkowski being listed as a non-participant for this entire week wouldn’t rule him out of playing in Minneapolis with another week to go before he needs to clear the concussion protocol to be eligible to play in the Super Bowl.
Defensive lineman Deatrich Wise would have joined Gronkowski as a non-participant on Wednesday. He’s also dealing with a concussion.
Defensive lineman Malcom Brown (foot), running back Mike Gillislee (knee) and right tackle LaAdrian Waddle (knee) would have all been limited participants in practice. Brown was the only one of the three to play against the Jaguars last Sunday.