The Tampa Bay Buccaneers welcomed tight end Rob Gronkowski back to practice this week. After practicing Thursday and Friday Gronkowski looks to be ready for a return as soon as this Monday.
Too Soon
After injuring his ribs in week three against the Los Angeles Rams, Gronkowski attempted to come back five weeks later. It was obvious he wasn’t completely healthy and he ended up leaving that game with back spasms.
Buccaneers head coach Bruce Arians on Gronkowski coming back vs. the Saints.
“Gronk probably shouldn’t have played,” Arians said after the Oct. 31 loss to New Orleans. “But he kept begging to get in there and re-injured himself.”
Gronk Speaks
Gronkowski spoke to the media for the first time in awhile Friday.
“We’re taking it one step at a time,” Gronkowski said on Friday. “I just had two good practices under my belt and that’s a big step right there. That’s the first crucial step is having some practices under my belt and making sure I feel good after them. It’s going well and the arrow is pointing up toward playing. Hopefully, it does go right and I’m out there Monday night. There are definitely difficult situations when you’re coming back from an injury,” Gronkowski stated. “You have to make sure you’re doing the right thing and everything and make sure you’re improving every day.”
Buccaneers head coach Bruce Arians recently described Gronkowski’s as the “arrow is pointing up”. He looks better and better”. This definitely points to a return for the tight end sooner than later.
“I Want To Be Out There”
Gronkowski appears to be more than ready to get back on the field.
“I want to be out there and make some plays like I was at the beginning of the year, have some first downs, have some touchdowns,” Gronkowski stated. “Just help out the offense throughout the game — that’s my goal. We’re taking it one step at a time.”
Gronkowski also spoke about missing one game in particular while being injured.
“It was definitely a bummer,” Gronkowski said to the media. “It was away and it would have definitely been nice to play in it, but, unfortunately, we saw what happened the week before and it is what it is. That’s football when things happen like that. All I was doing was cheering the guys on,” Gronkowski stated. “I was screaming for them, and they went out there and got the ‘W’, which was nice.”
To Gronk, Or Not?
The decision whether or not Gronkowski will return this Monday vs. the Giants has not yet been made. Rest assured that at the very least Gronkowski is ready to get back at it.
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