Gronkowski suffered a high left ankle sprain in the AFC Championship and had it heavily wrapped during the Super Bowl. He underwent surgery Feb. 10, and the recovery time was expected to be about three months.
If that timeline holds true, Gronkowski might be able to test his ankle during the second week of May, when the Patriots will be permitted to conduct separate football drills for the offense and defense ("perfect-play" drills). However, the Patriots know there's no reason to rush him onto the field at this point in the offseason, which could push him out even further.
The Patriots reported to Gillette on Monday for nine weeks of offseason workouts, but the first two weeks are strictly limited to conditioning drills. Gronkowski said Wednesday — the players' day off — that he has been working out as much as possible this offseason, even though he can't fully test his ankle for a little while longer.
"I'm just day by day, but I've been doing my upper-body workouts, my core workouts for the last like six weeks, so that hasn't stopped," Gronkowski said at BTIG's 10th annual Commissions for Charity Day. "Whatever I can do, I'm going to be doing. Whatever it is, if I can't do cardio right now, I'm just going to have to make up for it in about a month or two, or whenever I can start."
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