Patriots’ tight end Rob Gronkowski has been battling back from a
nagging ankle injury he suffered in the AFC Championship game nearly
two weeks ago. Seen in a walking boot after the game and
again landing in Indianapolis this week ( Video ),
concern over his status for Sunday’s game has taken center
stage.
Gronkowski led the Patriots with 18 touchdowns (17 receiving) in 2011,
and is vital to the team’s offense. If the injury hampers his
ability to get open, the Patriots passing attack could be dealt a
serious blow against an aggressive New York Giants defense.
Gronkowski was held out of practices all week last week. He
attended the team media day Tuesday, without his boot. It was
the first time the 6-foot-6, 265-pound behemoth had been seen in public
since stepping off the plane Saturday.
Pool reporter Alex Marvez from our own parent co FOX Sports, turned in
this report from Patriots practice Wed:
Game
Thread |
"I
am so sick of hearing about the giants d-line.Yes they are good but its
amazing everywhere u look on tv."
-- dominicanthug
"Just
play smash mouth and wear down their D-line. The only issue
with this is the Pats have asked that line to pass protect 60% of the
time and run block 40% meaning they are far more practiced at pass
protection."
--
3rdngoal
|
New England Patriots practice pool report
By Alex Marvez
Pro Football Writers of America
INDIANAPOLIS -- An almost-complete New England Patriots squad conducted
a two-and-a-half hour Super Bowl XLVI practice in helmets and shells
Wednesday at Indianapolis Colts team headquarters.
"We had our moments – some good ones and some things we’ve got to work
on," Patriots head coach Bill Belichick said afterward. “They’re
trying. They’re working hard. We’ve got a ways to go, though.
“We’ve had a little bit of extra time to prepare so we hit all the
areas. I thought we had good tempo and good timing. We’ll back down a
little bit the next couple of days.”
Tight end Rob Gronkowski was the only player who didn't participate
during Wednesday’s session. Gronkowski suffered a left ankle injury
January 22 during New England's 23-20 AFC Championship game victory
over Baltimore.
"He’s day to day," Belichick said. “He’s getting better but, we’ll just
take it day-to-day.”
Tackle Sebastian Vollmer (foot/back) worked on a limited basis.
“He did a little bit today,” Belichick said. “We’ll see how he does
tomorrow.”
Left tackle Matt Light, who battled an illness earlier in the week,
completed a full practice.
To prepare for the crowd noise expected inside Lucas Oil Stadium during
Sunday’s matchup against the New York Giants, the Patriots blasted loud
music through much of practice inside the Indiana Farm Bureau Football
Center.
"We can make it loud enough so that [the players] can’t hear," said
Belichick, whose team has not played inside a dome this season. “As
long as they can’t hear, you have to do silent communications whether
it’s on defense with hand signals or offense with tapping the center
[for the snap] and all that.”
Among the selections played were songs from Jon Bon Jovi -- a personal
friend of Belichick’s who attended New England's second-round playoff
win over Denver -- and Super Bowl XLVI halftime performer Madonna.
Belichick said he and Patriots Director of Football/Head Coach
Administration Berj Najarian choose the songs but added with a smile,
“I get veto power.”
Besides standard game preparation that included 11-on-11, 7-on-7,
goal-line and two-minute drills, the Patriots spent a portion of
Wednesday's session working on kickoffs and kickoff coverage. Belichick
said kickoffs are usually practiced on Thursday but the team is a day
ahead from having conducted a full-pads practice Monday in Indianapolis.
"Today is like Thursday for us during the season," Belichick said. “We
do punt and punt return on Wednesday, which was Monday.”
Belichick said Thursday’s practice will “be a little shorter and really
more review for everything like we did today – first, second, third
down and red (zone) area and all the situations.”
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