National Football League

Rosenhaus refutes Gronk, Pats spat

Published Oct. 17, 2013 1:00 a.m. ET

foxsports

The murmurs about Rob Gronkowski‘s playing status have quieted down quite a bit this week, but his agent Drew Rosenhaus wanted to clear the air on all the supposed controversy.

Rosenhaus joined the Joe Rose Show as he does weekly on WQAM in Miami on Thursday to discuss all things NFL. As has become a recurring theme this season, Rosenhaus was asked about Gronkowski and all the rumors surrounding the All-Pro tight end. He responded by explaining that Gronkowski still needs to be cleared, but that he and the team are on the same page.

“I don’t understand why this story has gotten so much traction,” Rosenhaus said. “There are dozens of players around the NFL who aren’t playing because they are injured and coming back from surgery. And in Rob’s case, this is really straight forward. Up to this point he hasn’t been cleared to play in a game. He has not been cleared by Dr. [James] Andrews, who is the supervising doctor.

“There’s a huge difference between being cleared to practice and being cleared to play in a game. I’ve had great dialogue with coach [Bill] Belichick and the Patriots’ medical staff, and Rob and his family. Everybody’s on the same page, except it’s gotten a lot of play in the media and all these unsubstantiated sources.”

Gronkowski, who underwent multiple offseason surgeries on his forearm and back, has missed the Patriots’ first six games this season, despite being listed as questionable the last three weeks. His continued absence on Sundays led to some reports that he and the team were at odds. Rosenhaus seems to dispute that, even saying Gronkowski anticipated he could be out this long.

“Quite frankly, it’s not a huge upset that up to this point he hasn’t been cleared to play in a game,” Rosenhaus said. “We anticipated this. Hopefully he’ll be back soon, maybe even this weekend, but there’s no way to know until the end of the week when his doctors make that determination.”

Gronkowski has been limited in practice again this week and may miss Sunday’s game against the Jets, too. He he is expected to be back by next week’s visit from the Dolphins at the latest.