Rob Gronkowski said Monday that he’s ready to go for Week 1. Bill Belichick thinks that’s just swell.
The New England Patriots head coach put a bit of a wet blanket on the optimism surrounding his tight end’s status Tuesday, declining to give an update on his plans for Gronkowski in Sunday’s season opener at Miami.
“I’m glad Rob is optimistic about his situation,” Belichick told reporters during a conference call. “We’ll go through the week of practice and take a look at everything …Â and do what we feel like is best for the team.”
It was a predictably cryptic response from Belichick, whose comments suggested that he was perhaps slightly annoyed with his tight end’s exuberance.
“With all due respect to Rob, I’m glad he feels the way he does, but in the end, we’ll have to make the decision we feel like is best for the team,” Belichick said.
It’s also likely that Belichick is tempering expectations so as not to reveal New England’s plan for deploying Gronk against Miami. The Dolphins coaching staff recently said it’s “fully prepared” for the Patriots tight end.
Patriots wide receiver Julian Edelman also was noncommittal during a radio appearance on WEEI when asked about Gronkowski’s comments.
“That’s Gronk being Gronk, maybe. That’s his situation,” Edelman said, via WEEI. “If he plays, that’s awesome, because that’s a huge weapon, probably the best tight end in the National Football League, in my opinion. But if he doesn’t, you have to worry about what you have to do, and go out and do your job.”
