Belichick: Gronkowski 'Not Ready Yet'
BOSTON (CBS) - The status of Rob Gronkowski has been a hot topic the last three weeks, with the Patriots tight end making his way back from a broken forearm.
He's been back at practice, but head coach Bill Belichick didn't offer much of an update on Gronkowski as the Patriots began preparations for their Week 17 matchup against the Miami Dolphins.
"We'll see how he is," Belichick said on Wednesday. "He did more last week than the week before and we'll see where he's at today and tomorrow when we go out there; we'll see what he can do. We'll take it day-to-day, make decisions day-to-day based on where he's at."
"He's moving along, not ready yet," Belichick added. "We'll take it day-to-day and see how it goes."
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Gronkowski underwent surgery back in November after breaking his forearm in the Patriots Week 11 win over the Indianapolis Colts. He has practiced the last two weeks and was "questionable" for each of the last two games, but was inactive for each of them.
The Patriots' All Pro tight end has missed five games with the injury, but Belichick said the team will not rush him back just to get him some Week 17 reps before the playoffs begin.
"I think those are decisions really that are made medically," said Belichick. "If the players are able to play, then we play them. If they're not, then we don't. It's the same for every player, we treat them all the same. There's nothing more important than the player's health and safety, so when they're cleared to play, then we make playing decisions."
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"If they're not cleared to play, then there's no decision to make," he said. "And I don't think that's a decision that a coach makes or influences, those are medical decisions if it's a medical situation. Once it's a competitive decision then that's a coaching decision. If it's a medical decision, then it's made by medical people."
Despite missing the last five games, Gronkowski still leads the Patriots with 10 receiving touchdowns on the season.
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