Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski took the field last week when the New England Patriots held their minicamp, but the two star players are apparently only planning to show up to work when they have to.
Now that mandatory minicamp has concluded, the Patriots will go back to holding their organized team activities, which are voluntary. Ian Rapoport of NFL Media reports that Brady and Gronkowski will skip those workouts as they have all offseason.
After taking part in mandatory minicamp last week, #Patriots Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski are not slated to be part of the final few OTAs (one of which is a field trip) this week, I’m told. See ‘em in July.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) June 11, 2018
Both Brady and Patriots coach Bill Belichick downplayed the absences when speaking with the media last week, but it’s hard to view them as insignificant. As ESPN’s Mike Reiss noted on Monday, one of the OTA practices will be spent on a team-building “field trip” of sorts.
Patriots players are back to “work” today for the final week of voluntary OTAs, but those taking part won’t be sticking around the stadium. A team-building/team-bonding “field trip” is on the agenda.
— Mike Reiss (@MikeReiss) June 11, 2018
Brady has always stressed the importance of team-building exercises and practicing with your teammates as much as possible, so he clearly has an agenda. His absence likely has a lot to do with Belichick’s current relationship with the QB’s personal trainer, while Gronk’s may be more about money.
