Bill Belichick Has Hilarious And Awkward Exchange With Reporter About Rob Gronkowski
BOSTON (CBS) -- It's rare Bill Belichick says anything during his press conferences, let alone talk about an injured player.
Chances are unless you ask him about special teams or the importance of the fullback position, you aren't going to get much out of the Patriots head coach. But that didn't stop one reporter from trying to get an injury update on tight end Rob Gronkowski on Wednesday.
Despite reports that Gronkowski should be able to play against the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl LII in 11 days, Belichick wasn't going to divulge any information on the subject in his first press conference of the week. Here's how the exchange played out at Gillette Stadium:
Reporter: Can you give us an update on Rob Gronkowski? Has he finished his concussion protocol? Do you expect him to play?
Belichick: Yeah, we will be compliant with the NFL injury report and when that is required we'll put it on.
Reporter: When is that process completed?
Belichick: When's what process is finished?
Reporter: The concussion report.
Belichick: Whatever his situation is, whatever his status is, then we'll put it on the injury report. We'll make sure you're the first one to get it.
Reporter: I'm sure you will. Do you expect him to play?
Belichick: We'll put it right on the injury report and that's what we're going to do.
Reporter: OK.
Belichick: Just like everybody else does. We'll make sure you're first on the list too.
Reporter: Thank you. I appreciate it.
Belichick: I don't want to hold anyone back here. Get that out there right away.
Reporter: I know you don't.
Belichick: It's all we can do.
Belichick was actually in an extremely good mood for much of his 29-minute chat with reporters on Wednesday. When ESPN Boston's Mike Reiss brought up the fact that Belichick's Patriots have never scored in the first quarter of their Super Bowls, the coach was quick to thank him.
"Thanks, Mike," he said with a smile. "Yeah, all of the negative stuff in the Super Bowls we need to be aware of, too. ... Look, we try to score in every game. I know that's probably hard to understand, but we try to go out and score and keep the other team from scoring. That's our goal every game."
The team won't hit the practice field again until Thursday, so we'll have to wait until then to get an actual update on Gronkowski's status.