Rob Gronkowski cleared: 'We knew the whole time I would be good to go'

BLOOMINGTON, Minn. — Rob Gronkowski was trying to be a man of his word.

The tight end, who was working his way through the concussion protocol the last 11 days following a head injury in the AFC title game, couldn’t miss this weekend’s Super Bowl. After all, he promised Patriots’ fans at last year’s parade, “When we get No. 6, your boy right here is going to be a part of (it)!”

So when he was officially cleared to play in Super Bowl LII on Thursday, there was a big sigh of relief from Gronkowski, Patriots fans, as well as his teammates and the New England coaching staff.



“I’ve reminded him a few times, ‘You said last year at the parade that you were going to be in this game this year,’” said offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels. “To his credit, he’s done everything he could all week, the last two weeks, all year, to make himself the player that he is and be ready to help us at this point in time in the season.”

“Gronk’s a beast,” shrugged Dion Lewis. “I’m not surprised.”

Tom Brady was thrilled that Gronkowski was able to take some of the spotlight off him in his final pregame press conference.

“Have you talked to him yet? Is he around here today? He is? Well, good,” Brady said with a laugh. “That makes me happy then. He’s a big weapon for us. He’s a guy that always shows up with a great attitude. He’s just an incredible player. Hopefully, he can go out there and play his best game of the year.

“I’ve been lucky to be his teammate for a long time. He’s a great friend. He’ll be a friend for life. I’m proud of him and everything that he’s accomplished and what he’s overcome. His mental and physical toughness has been a great attribute, and I’m hoping he goes out and plays a great game.”

The way Gronkowski described it Thursday to a packed media gathering, his return was never really in doubt.

“We knew the whole time I would be good to go,” he said. “I was progressing really good throughout the week.

“I knew I was going to be playing the whole time. I was obviously being cautious, too. I didn’t just want to jump right into it right away,” he added. “(But) it’s going good, and I’m just happy to be back out there with the boys.”

He said the fact that the Patriots had the extra week between the AFC title game and the Super Bowl was a big boost when it came to his return. (In last weekend’s hypothetical injury report, if the game was last Sunday, he would not have been able to play.)

“I would say they were more on the cautious side when it came to getting me out there,” he said. “When it came to the bye week and everything in between, (that) definitely helped out big time. (I) just did every step by step, every day, and everything went smooth. I officially got the word today that I was cleared. That was super-nice to hear. … I’m ready to roll.”

Gronkowski said he got the word on Thursday from head trainer Jim Whalen.

“Basically, it was just, ‘You’re good to go. You’re cleared Rob. Congratulations,’” Gronkowski said, recalling the conversation. “I knew it was going to come.”

Ultimately, it was just a matter of patience.

“I wouldn’t say there was a frustration level,” he said. “From the beginning of last week, I just knew that if I took the proper steps and did everything I had to do I would be cleared eventually. We went through the whole process, and there was no frustration. There was no reason to get frustrated. We had that extra week, which was awesome to have. That extra week to get prepared, get right, and to do what I had to do to get cleared. That was helpful. There was no frustration. I was just kept on trucking along and I’m at where I’m at now. I’ll be ready to roll.”