NFL teams
Lee Schechter 10y

Gronk: 'I'm here and I'm ready'

NFL, New England Patriots

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski has been cleared by doctors to play, but he's not quite ready to let it rip.

"If it was 100 percent, I'd be doing every single little thing," Gronkowski said Friday after the team's second training camp practice. "So, no, I'm not 100 percent, I'm working every single day to get to that."

Gronkowski has participated in individual drills over the last two days, while watching from the sideline during team drills. On both days, he worked individually with quarterback Tom Brady after practice.

Gronkowski said he doesn't have a timetable on when he will start taking repetitions in team drills, but he will listen to the trainers to determine when he is ready.

Another step will be absorbing full contact for the first time since he tore his right ACL on Dec. 8 in a game against the Cleveland Browns. The Patriots are holding their first full-pads practice Saturday, and Gronkowski plans to be dressed in full pads so he can run routes and continue to plant and cut while gaining more comfort in full football gear.

"For the last six months, I worked my butt off to be here," Gronkowski said. "Cutting on it, making it stronger, I'm here and I'm ready.

"Running routes, being in the huddle, catching balls from Tom Brady, it's a dream come true again. Feels like it got taken away, and I feel like I got it back."

And now that he's back, the 6-foot-6, 265-pound Gronkowski has no plans to change the way he plays.

"I'm going to go full speed, and I'm going to keep smashing and dashing everything I do," he said.

Gronkowski previously said that he plans on playing the full 16-game schedule, and that he is in lockstep with the Patriots as to his recovery.

"We're on the same page right now," he said, adding that it might have seemed to outside observers as if the sides weren't at one point. "I'm preparing myself to my max ability right now and listening to my trainers so I'm ready to go when it comes down to it."

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