Rob Gronkowski, who retired from the NFL earlier this offseason, hasn’t done much to extinguish speculation over whether he’ll ultimately return to the New England Patriots in 2019. Quite the opposite, in fact.
Gronkowski worked out with Patriots quarterback Tom Brady at UCLA last month, adding fuel to the talk radio fire, and former Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Bill Cowher can’t help but wonder whether the practice session was more than just a random occurrence.
“They just happened to be in the same city at the same time,” Cowher, now an NFL analyst for CBS, said Tuesday, according to The Boston Globe’s Ben Volin. “It’s funny how that worked out.”
A public relations firm announced Tuesday that Gronkowski will meet with the media on Aug. 27 in New York to reveal the “next chapter” in his life. It’s unlikely the All-Pro tight end will reveal plans to return to the gridiron at that time, but who’s to say he won’t get the itch after the Patriots kick off their regular season Sept. 8?
“I have a hard time believing that Tom (Brady) and Gronk haven’t talked, just from the standpoint of, ‘Let’s see how this thing unfolds, and to stay in shape,’ ” Cowher told Volin.
Gronkowski had a down season by his standards in 2018. The 30-year-old also dealt with an abundance of injuries over the course of his nine-year NFL career. But he made huge plays in the Patriots’ AFC Championship Game win over the Kansas City Chiefs and their Super Bowl LIII victory over the Los Angeles Rams, suggesting Gronkowski still could make an impact under the right circumstances, and New England is very thin at tight end right now. Perhaps the stars eventually will align for a return, even though Gronk looked noticeably thinner in a video that surfaced this week.
“He doesn’t need training camp,” Cowher said, per Volin. “He knows the terminology. The biggest thing will be getting in football shape. But what’s football shape if you’re only playing 25-30 snaps a game?
“I would not discount him coming back at any point in the season, particularly given how it unfolds initially, and just to see where they are at the tight end position.”
In other words, the chatter almost certainly will rage on, regardless of what Gronkowski announces in a couple of weeks.
