New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski is still on the shelf while he repairs his torn ACL he suffered Dec. 8, but Gronk wasn’t overly optimistic when asked about his availability for Week 1.

When asked about his availability for the Patriots opener against the the Miami Dolphins on Sep. 7, Gronk played it safe and set the bar very low.

"Oh man, that's too far away. I'm just improving every day right now," Gronkowski said Tuesday on the "Hill-Man Show" on WAAF-FM. "I'm working hard every day to put myself in the best situation so that I'm ready.”

"I'm actually improving every week. It's feeling good and coming along very well,"

"It's been a while now and I'm just super excited to get this season rolling and get back out there on the field. I know it's another few more months away, so I have more time to keep on recovering and keep on getting in shape."

Gronk had an up and down 2013 season after multiple surgeries in the 2013 offseason to repair his broken forearm only to suffer the ACL injury. Add that to the arrest of Aaron Hernandez, the Patriots had to scramble for tight end help that they never really found.

As for the Patriots immediate future, the uncertainty of Gronkowski should prompt them to add a tight end in the draft. A player like Jace Amaro or Austin Seferian-Jenkins would fill the role left by Hernandez and fill a bigger need if Gronk can’t play.

The Patriots are clearly better when Gronk is healthy and are at their best when they can use a two tight end set to create mismatches. That is a formation that was sorely missed in 2013 and if the Patriots can add one of those two tight ends and have a healthy Gronk they could look to recreate it.

[Quotes via ESPN]

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