The curious case of Rob Gronkowski's health status continues. The tight end was not seen during any of the New England Patriots' preseason games. He has also rarely been seen taking contact during training camp. To make matters more interesting, the Patriots traded away one of their best offensive lineman for young, athletic tight end just a week ago. Gronkowski claims he is healthy while head coach Bill Belichick is not jumping to conclusions.
Fantasy owners might be pulling their hair out right now as Belichick will not confirm if Gronkowski is healthy enough to play Week 1 of the season against the Miami Dolphins. Gronkowski remains extremely optimistic while Belichick has no plans of offering up a status report to the media.
"I'm glad that Rob is optimistic about his situation," Belichick said, via ESPN.com. "We will go through a week of practice, look at everything and everybody and see where everybody is at and try to do what's best for the team. With all due respect to Rob that he feels the way he does, but in the end we will have to make the decision that we feel is best for the team."
Offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels confirmed that Gronkowski has been practicing and doing different things to prepare for being a part of the offense. The tight end underwent ACL surgery Jan. 9 and told the media that he is physically and mentally healthy for the year. However, the coaching staff might not feel the same way. According to McDaniels, the decision to play Gronkowski could be something that is not decided until warmups.
"Rob has been practicing, and we have been doing some different things, building our offensive system and packages as we go throughout the course of the year, and he has been part of that," offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels said. "Whatever we can or are available to use him to do -- however big, small -- whatever the decision is, he will be ready to do it. There's always some unknowns that are going to come up on opening day. We are just going to out there and try to put together a solid plan with all our guys and let our players play fast and aggressive."
Tim Wright is slowly emerging as a fantasy football sleeper pick, especially for the first part of the season. He is athletic with great hands and can act as the type of tight end Aaron Hernandez was for the Patriots. Without Gronkowski, players like Aaron Dobson and Kenbrell Thompkins will see more playing time alongside Julian Edelman, Danny Amendola and Brandon LaFell.
