Bedard: We know Kraft, Belichick and Brady have met ... and that's it

ORLANDO, Fla. — If the look on his face and tone to some of his words were any indication, then Robert Kraft told Patriots fans that all is good at One Patriot Place when he spoke Monday at the NFL annual meeting,

On Rob Gronkowski, Kraft continued to talk adoringly about his tight end and his "moves for the coming season."

On the decision to bench Malcolm Butler in the Super Bowl, Kraft said that he doesn't second-guess Bill Belichick: "There’s no doubt in my mind, even if he made an error -- and this is true with any of our managers (at Kraft Group) -- that if they’re doing it for the right reason, then I support it 100 percent. And I've never had one instance in the 18 years where Bill hasn't done what he believes is in the best interests of our team to help us win games."

And, most importantly, on the working relationship between Belichick and Tom Brady and the "tension" around the team, Kraft basically scoffed at the word — even though he told NFL Network before the Super Bowl, "We have tension. I think a certain amount of tension helps make great things happen" — and said that Kraft, Belichick and Brady have all talked together in "the meeting."

"Yes, we’ve had the meeting," Kraft said. "Just to be clear, things … we have meetings all the time. We’re not a big bureaucratic organization. We’re a private company. We don’t have boards. We answer to the fans the best we can.

"We met, and I meet individually with each of them. But the thing I don’t know if it’s completely understood that Bill and Tom communicate a lot. They spend a lot of time communicating. The residual of this loss was really hard on everyone. But I sort of see that as a high-class problem because I sat in the stands when we were never in the playoffs at home for 20-odd years."

So, to recap, things don't seem to be stressful with Gronkowski (Kraft's answer would be different if this was a worrisome contract stalemate), Kraft's not second-guessing his coach for a decision some fans feel cost the team a championship, and the owner, coach and quarterback have at least broken bread together.

If you just stop there, that would seem to be good news on three important fronts heading into the 2018 season.

But here's my biggest question with, mostly, the state of the triumvirate:

Why are we so short on specifics?

On Sunday, Belichick said, "Tom and I have always had a good line of communication ... I don’t see that changing." I read that as, The last time we left off, we were talking and I figure that's the way it will be when we pick up again.

And then Kraft said they had "the meeting" and that was it in the way of details.

At the minimum, a more meaningful response would be, "We had the meeting and I'm confident that we're all on the same page."

But there was nothing like that.

Now, I'm not going to launch into conspiracy theories and start yelling things like, "See, everything isn't over yet because Kraft would have said if they were!"

No, just like second-guessing the Butler decision — until I hear otherwise, I'm going to believe Belichick had his reasons, which stemmed from Butler's unfocused play during the season, and I've heard from a source the Butler decision emanated from another strong defensive voice and Belichick merely consented — I'm not going to go overboard parsing people's words. Especially those of Kraft, who can sometimes go off on tangents and not finish his first and intended thought.

But it would be quite simple for Kraft and/or Belichick to signal that everyone was on the same page after a trying season. That hasn't happened.

What we do know, from various sources and reports, that the 2017 season was difficult for a lot of reasons behind the scene. Kraft said there was tension, before dismissing it as normal in the course of business. Brady's wife, said the past two years were "very challenging for him in so many ways... And I think, he tells me ‘I love (football) so much, I just wanna go to work and feel appreciated and have fun.'” And then Brady ended his documentary asking himself questions like, "What are we doing this for? Who are we doing this for? Why are we doing this? ... You got to have the answers to those questions, and they have to be with a lot of conviction. When you lose your conviction, then you probably should be doing something else."

Like Belichick and Kraft not adding context to straightforward questions, Brady — who had full editorial control over the project — didn't conclude with an uplifting, "And I quickly answered those and can't wait until the 2018 season."

Belichick. Kraft. Brady.

Some answers from all three, but nothing definitive.

Is that worrisome? Maybe, maybe not depending on how much you want to read between the lines. Unfortunately, we'll all just have to stay tuned.

But I'll stick with what I wrote in January: Belichick is not likely going anywhere, but his solo counsel approach leads to speculation in the building. He will get over it and start finding the next Garoppolo. Brady, who currently has no desire to do another deal to help the team, will keep working like he always does. Kraft will go back to minding his own business. ... It’s not Armageddon, and everyone is still a professional at the end of the day. ... nothing has really changed. The Patriots will likely roll on with business as usual.