Rob Gronkowski ‘definitely ready' to return to Patriots Sunday against Jets

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FOXBORO -- You can expect to see Rob Gronkowski back on the field Sunday. It's been almost a month, but that's the plan. 

"Definitely ready to get back there," he said Friday. "Good to go. Excited to be back out there for a game. Excited to be back out there on Sundays and play some ball."

Gronkowski was last seen in uniform for a Week 8 win against the Bills, where he made three catches for 43 yards. He didn't look like himself that night, particularly when picking himself up off the turf relatively slowly following one incompletion during which he landed on his back while trying to make the catch.

He wouldn't say if this is the healthiest he's felt since Week 1, but he did say that he's ready. 

"I feel good," he said. "I'm ready to go. Sunday afternoon in New York. It's going to be a hostile environment. It always is. They're a good team. They play hard. I can't recall a game where I would say they [didn't] in my years playing them. It will be a good one. It'll be a tough one but it'll be a good one again."

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He added: "I feel good. I'm ready to play. That's all. I'm excited to be back out there come Sunday. Just been working hard to get back out there. Ready to roll."

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Earlier this week, the New York Daily News printed a cover to its sports pages that featured Gronkowski, Tom Brady and Bill Belichick in a reference to the movie "Weekend at Bernie's." 

In the movie -- for those young enough to be unaware of the 1989 flick -- Bernie is dead, but he's traipsed around and dressed up to look like he's still living. In the artwork for the tabloid's cover, Gronkowski was Bernie.

Gronkowski said he hadn't seen it.

"No. Heard there was some like crazy weekend though at my house," he said. "It gets crazy."

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Was he motivated by the paper implying that he's done? 

"No, it is what it is," he said. "We’ve got a big game Sunday, that’s all that matters. I’ve got to get ready, got to get prepared and just focus on Sunday."

Gronkowski credited those who've worked with him behind the scenes for getting him back to the point where he can play in a divisional matchup that the Patriots will need to win in order to try to keep pace with the Chiefs, who sit atop the conference at the moment with just two losses.

When he stepped to the podium, he'd clearly worked up a good sweat at practice on the fields behind Gillette Stadium.

"Just keep on grinding every day with my teammates," he said, "so I can get out there and that's what it will be on Sunday."

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