Rob Gronkowski could be back this weekend, agent says

(UPI) -- New England Patriot Rob Gronkowski may play in this weekend's game against the New Orleans Saints after all.

Days after it was reported that the tight end was not medically cleared for Sunday, his agent Drew Rosenhaus has come forward to say he could be back soon, "maybe even this weekend."

“It’s really straightforward -- when Rob is cleared, he’ll play,” Rosenhaus told WQAM-AM 560. “It shouldn’t be a big surprise to people that the guy has a very cautious approach right now, because he had four operations on that forearm and he had a back operation.

“Quite frankly, it’s not a huge upset that up to this point he hasn’t been cleared to play in a game. We anticipated this. Hopefully he’ll be back soon, maybe even this weekend. But there’s no way to know until the end of the week when his doctors make that determination.”

Dr. James Andrews will have the final say in Gronkowski’s status after he looks at scans of the NFL star’s twice-broken forearm.

Rosenhaus also explained that there was a difference between being cleared to practice and playing.

“There’s a huge difference between being cleared to practice and being cleared to play in a game,” Rosenhaus said. “I’ve had great dialogue with coach (Bill) Belichick and the Patriots’ medical staff, and Rob and his family. Everybody’s on the same page, except it’s gotten a lot of play in the media and all these unsubstantiated sources.”