New England Patriots don’t place Rob Gronkowski, Vince Wilfork on PUP list

Rob Gronkowski thinks he’ll play a full 16-game schedule for the New England Patriots this season after undergoing surgery to repair his torn ACL last season and it would appear his prediction is holding up as he was not placed on the physically-unable-to-perform list today.

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The Patriots placed some players on the PUP list today with camp beginning this week, but their All-Pro tight end and Pro Bowl nose tackle, Vince Wilfork were not, giving fans reason for optimism their recovery could be ahead of schedule.

Veterans report to training camp on Wednesday and the Patriots can still add either of the two to the list after they report, but this is a good sign for Patriots fans that they could have Gronkowski and Wilfork healthy at the start of the season.

So, at least for now, TE Rob Gronkowski and NT Vince Wilfork have not been placed on PUP for the Patriots.
— Field Yates (@FieldYates) July 21, 2014

Again, Gronk's target is Week 1, not day 1 of camp. But his presence there would obviously be an awfully good sign.
— Albert Breer (@AlbertBreer) July 21, 2014

Gronkowski was limited to seven games and six starts a season ago when he recorded 39 receptions for 592 yards and four touchdowns. He has missed 15 games over the past two seasons, so his hope of playing in all 16 games would be the first time he has done that 2011 when he scored an NFL-high 17 touchdowns and had 90 receptions for 1,327 yards.

Wilfork suffered a ruptured Achilles in the team’s fourth game last season and had been selected to the Pro Bowl in each of the past four seasons. He has been a fixture in the center of the Patriots defensive line throughout his career and had only missed six games in his career prior to missing the final 12 games of last season.