Rob Gronkowski was spotted on the practice field with the New England Patriots over the weekend, but he remained in the NFL’s concussion protocol as of Monday morning. Because of that, reporters may not be able to ask him questions at Super Bowl Opening Night.
The Patriots held a send-off rally at Gillette Stadium before they headed off to Minnesota on Monday. Gronkowski was on stage with Bill Belichick and a handful of his teammates, but he did not speak. That seemed like a sign of things to come, and the star tight end is also not listed as being available for Opening Night.
The NFL released the podium positions for tonight's SB Opening Night and TE Rob Gronkowski is not listed — an indication he won't be there.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) January 29, 2018
Players are exempt from speaking with the media until they are cleared from the concussion protocol, so that is almost certainly why Gronk isn’t scheduled to take part in the media frenzy. While that means we won’t get to enjoy him reading passages from erotica novels about himself like he has in the past, Belichick probably prefers it that way.
The overwhelming consensus seems to be that Gronkowski will be cleared by the time the Patriots take on the Philadelphia Eagles. If not for the extra week off before the Super Bowl, New England may have had to game plan without its most important pass-catcher.
