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Here’s some good news for Pats fans, Rob Gronkowski who was flirted with retiring this offseason is “pretty certain” to be coming back next season according to a report from ESPN’s Jeff Darlington.
Via ESPN
Sources say Gronkowski still hasn’t made a decision. But despite serious considerations since the end of the season of retiring because of physical and mental fatigue, sources say Gronkowski is “pretty certain” he’ll come back as long as Tom Brady remains with the team.
It seems like Gronkowski and Belichick still have some issues to hash out because the longtime Pats coach reportedly doesn’t feel like Gronk is “all-in”.
Lingering frustrations remain between Gronkowski and head coach Bill Belichick, along with others in the Patriots organization, according to sources close to each side. Whether those frustrations on either side will impact Gronkowski’s return to the team remains the final piece to this unfinished puzzle.
For Gronkowski, the physical anguish of the 2017 season, which led him late in the regular season to tell people that he was likely to retire, was paired with some mental fatigue from the high-strung culture within the Patriots organization, sources said
For Belichick, since the season’s end, sources say he has expressed frustration with those close to him about Gronkowski, specifically questioning whether he remains “all-in,” a critical aspect of Belichick’s blueprint for success.
Belichick needs to check his ego because Gronk is still one of the best tight ends in the league even when he’s not 100 percent tuned in.