Bill Belichick was his usual self at the AFC coaches breakfast on Tuesday in Arizona, treating reporters to cliche answers and giving them very little to write about. He spoke about Wes Welker as if he were just another player who had come and gone. Belichick had very little to share when discussing the acquisition of safety Adrian Wilson or the team’s decision to retain cornerback Aqib Talib.
However, Shalise Manza Young of the Boston Globe pointed out that the Patriots coach did give off the impression that he is a bit irritated with Rob Gronkowski. When asked about Gronk’s rehab, Belichick had the following to say.
“With his rehab?” he asked. “I mean, again, I think every player has a process they go through to get ready for the offseason program and training camp. Every player, or most every player, has to deal with some aspect of it, including the normal things like conditioning, overall training relative to their physical abilities and their position.”
Naturally, the conversation steered toward Gronkowski’s wrestling moves that he put on display in Las Vegas during Super Bowl week while his arm was still in a cast. A reporter asked Belichick if he had seen the video, and a long pause followed. The reporter broke the silence when he asked, “Guess not?”
“Let’s stick to football questions,” Belichick said.
Things have been relatively quiet on the Gronk front since that video surfaced, and you have to wonder if that is a coincidence or if the Patriots have spoken to him. Last year, the team told its tight end that the Summer of Gronk was over just before training camp began. Considering he is nursing a forearm injury this offseason that required multiple surgeries, perhaps Belichick and company had that talk with Gronkowski a bit early this year.
