NFL Rumors: Rob Gronkowski reveals 1 team and coach he'd return to play for
At the way things are going, Rob Gronkowski's next stop as a football player will be Canton and the Pro Football Hall of Fame in four years. Arguably the NFL's greatest tight end in league history hung 'em up after the 2021 season with Tom Brady and the Buccaneers, not joining his longtime quarterback for one last ride.
But in a league where we just saw Jimmy Graham return to the Saints, people are going to ask still if the 34-year-old Gronk is going to ever make a comeback to the NFL.
All indications from Gronkowski make that seem entirely unlikely to happen… but if it were to, we know which team could get him off the couch (or out of the studio). In an interview with Kay Adams of FanDuel.TV, she asked Gronk which coach could pull him out of retirement and he had his answer ready: Brian Daboll of the New York Giants.
It's not hard to decipher why Daboll would be the pick, regardless of what you think of Daniel Jones and the Giants. The longtime Bills offensive coordinator took the G-Men to the postseason in his first season after the club had looked lifeless under the Joe Judge regime.
Of course, it's highly unlikely that Daboll would call in the first place. Not only is Gronkowski well out of the game at this point, even by his own admission numerous times, but New York also pulled off a big trade this offseason for former Raiders tight end Darren Waller to man the position for this season and perhaps beyond.
Even still, it's hard not to dream about one more Gronk Spike — and Daboll might be the only man who could make that happen. Sorry, Belichick.
NFL Rumors: Raiders get Davante Adams back, Tyree Wilson off PUP list, among other injury returns
It's felt like every single day of Las Vegas Raiders training camp has come with bad news about the Silver and Black. Though there thankfully haven't been too many of the ultra-serious variety, injuries have been piling up for Josh McDaniels' team throughout the offseason.
Thankfully, there is finally some good news trickling in out of the infirmary for the Raiders.
On Wednesday, star wide receiver Davante Adams, who the team acquired via a trade with the Packers last offseason, returned to joint practice with the 49ers alongside slot-man Hunter Renfrow and rookie tight end Michael Mayer, expected to be the first-string of pass-catchers in the Vegas offense.
Adams went down with a leg injury last week with a scare for every Raiders fan who saw how heavily he was relied upon in the offense last season. Returning in about a week is a great sign that it's nothing to truly worry about, though. McDaniels furthered that, calling his WR1 "ready to roll" as he returned.
Perhaps more crucially, ESPN's Adam Schefter also reported that Raiders first-round pick Tyree Wilson was activated off of the NFI list, clearing him for practice on Wednesday.
Wilson's college career at Texas Tech ended when he suffered a broken foot that required extensive recovery and multiple procedures to insert and remove hardware. Getting him cleared and on the field in practice is huge, though the plan is to ease him into action.
Even still, if the Raiders are going to have any chance of exceeding low expectations this season, they need to be at full-strength, particularly with a first-round talent like Wilson or a future Hall of Famer in Adams. Subsequently, getting this group on the field together for the first time is a good sight to see for fans.
NFL Rumors: Brock Purdy not showing same magic in 49ers training camp
Brock Purdy made a rapid ascension to cult hero among San Francisco 49ers fans last season. Mr. Irrelevant in the 2022 NFL Draft was never supposed to see the field, but injuries to both Trey Lance and then Jimmy Garoppolo necessitated that Purdy started at the end of the regular season and into the playoffs.
And of course, all he did was lead the team to the NFC Championship Game.
As we know, however, Purdy suffered an elbow injury in that eventual loss to the Eagles that required a serious UCL surgery this offseason. The former Iowa State star made a miraculously quick recovery, though, to be ready for the start of training camp. Unfortunately, the same magic hasn't quite been there in practices thus far.
David Lombardi of The Athletic (subscription required) reported from 49ers camp on Wednesday that Purdy has already thrown 10 interceptions in practice, including two on Wednesday against a Raiders secondary expected to be among the worst in the NFL.
That, on the surface, looks like a cause to panic. Head coach Kyle Shanahan is doing no such thing, though, telling Lombardi that he's not worried about it — noting the obvious that it's better to see that in practice than in games.
Purdy was excellent when he was called upon last season at protecting the football in actual NFL games. Moreover, training camp practices — particularly joint practices — are a time when teams and players take chances that they might not in a game. It's experimentation.
All told, camp interceptions aren't a reason to be worried about Brock Purdy. If this trend continues into live game action, though, that would be a different story.
