Julian Edelman returned to practice on Friday, joining fellow injured superstar Rob Gronkowski and giving Patriots fans hope for a healthy offense in the near future.
But could Bill Belichick be toying with the media and his opponents?
The way the Patriots have handled Gronkowski’s knee injury is incredibly unusual for the organization. Since when does New England release statements providing injury information and updates? They don’t, which is why it was so strange when they did it with Gronk.
When Gronkowski returned to practice on Thursday, Jeff Howe of the Boston Herald noted how excited Belichick seemed. That’s understandable, but it was strange that he did nothing to hide his emotions in the presence of cameras.
Belichick was following Gronk up and down the jogging line. He was pumped and jacked to have the tight end back on the field.
— Jeff Howe (@jeffphowe) December 10, 2015
Here's visual evidence from @photowilcox of Belichick walking up to give Gronk a high-5 pic.twitter.com/H7UpIPLRQd
— Jeff Howe (@jeffphowe) December 10, 2015
It got even weirder on Friday when Edelman took the practice field. At one point, Edelman and Gronkowski high-fived one another as if they knew the cameras were watching. It almost looked staged:
Money shot from @7News Pablo Cortez! Gronk and Edelman giving us tv magic #highfive pic.twitter.com/hrZsVjDlst
— Alex Corddry (@ACorddry) December 11, 2015
Maybe everyone is just in a jolly mood coming off back-to-back losses and they don’t care who knows it. Gronkowski and Edelman are critical to the Patriots’ success and chances of repeating as champions, so it would be understandable for Belichick to be excited they are on the mend.
Still, it’s bizarre to see Belichick — the same Belichick who had this reaction when asked about Gronk’s injury — acting so jovial at the media portion of practice. If you think he’s above going to those lengths to smoke-screen everyone, you don’t know Bill Belichick.
