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Where’s Gronkowski? Tight End Held Out of Manditory Minicamp

The Gronk spike is on hold for a while.

He’s one of the biggest and most-effective weapons in football, but Rob Gronkowski never saw the field with the New England Patriots when they opened their mandatory minicamp Tuesday. He didn’t participate Wednesday either.

Gronk did report with the rest of the team, but is reportedly being held out of participating as a precaution. The team won’t say what’s wrong with Gronkowski, only that it’s “extremely minor” and that he would be practicing if this were a week in the regular season.

So, maybe something he picked up on Tinder?

Last season the Pats didn’t let Gronk do much, saving him for the regular season. He never appeared in a single preseason game and likely won’t again this year.

Belichick, with his usual flair for the English language, addressed Gronkowski’s absence Tuesday.

“There are a lot of players that were not on the field,” Belichick said. “They were doing other things.”

Deflating footballs? Running clandestine cameras? He wasn’t clear.

In all seriousness, the Pats did hold plenty of players out Wednesday. Julian Edelman, Danny Amendola, LeGarrette Blount, Duron Harmon, Logan Ryan, Nate Solder and Sebastian Vollmer all sat out Wednesday.

Gronkowski did make some good news this week when he participated in the One Mission Cancer Buzz off at Gillette Stadium last Sunday. Gronkowski let kids shave his head as part of the cancer charity. This is the fifth year Gronk has shaved his head at the event.

Cowboys linebacker McClain missed OTAs for second week in a row

The Cowboys have yet to start their own mandatory minicamp, but middle linebacker Rolando McClain has already been a no-show for two weeks of organized team activities over what was called a “family issue” at his home in Alabama.

Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett expected McLain back this week, but that didn’t happen. If he misses the beginning of the mandatory minicamp he could be fined $76,580.

Wednesday Cowboys owner Jerry Jones told a sports radio show that McClain was spending time with his two sons, who live in Alabama. McClain’s family issues have complicated his time in Dallas before. In 2014 he missed practice days to fly back Alabama for custody hearings.

“This is a young family, they’re young boys and believe ir or not, they have some routines and things that they’re used to in their lives,” Jones told KRLD-FM. “Let’s just leave it it at this. Certainly there are no surprised with Rolando at all.”

Bengals sign Bernard to extension

Fantasy football owners might get irked at how the Cincinnati Bengals use him, but the team is more than happy with Giovani Bernard’s production. Wednesday the Bengals announced they’d signed Bernard to a three-year, $15.5 million contract extension.

“It’s great to be able to extend our commitment with Gio,” Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis said in a statement. “It’s all a part of what I keep saying, draft the right players, develop them and retain them. We’re excited about the great things Gio will continue to add to our offense.”

Bernard is a multi-purpose weapon for the Bengals and an important cog in their offense. He’s gained more than 1,000 total offensive yards every year in the league since the team drafted him in the second round out of North Carolina.

Last season he carried the ball 154 times for 730 yards, averaging 4.7 yards per carry and scoring two touchdowns. He caught 49 passes for 472 yards.

“It’s a dream come true,” Bernard said. “Me going somewhere else did not even sound right. Me not being in that orange, white and black didn’t sound right to me.”

Saints sign safety Roman Harper

After playing in a Super Bowl with the Carolina Panthers, safety Roman Harper will return to the team where he won it. The Saints signed Harper Tuesday to an as yet undisclosed contract.

Whatever the numbers are, he’s already working out with the team at their OTAs. Running back Tim Hightower posted a photo with Harper to Twitter Tuesday.

To make room for Harper the Saints cut linebacker Dominique Tovell. Last year with the Panthers Harper had 46 tackles, two forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries and five passes defended.

Written by Adam Greene

Adam Greene is a writer and photographer based out of East Tennessee. His work has appeared on Cracked.com, in USA Today, the Associated Press, the Chicago Cubs Vineline Magazine, AskMen.com and many other publications.

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