Patriots' Rob Gronkowski (back) cleared to return to practice

New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski (back) has been cleared to return to the practice field.

What It Means:

Gronk's recovery has been going smoothly, and he has said that he'll be "ready to roll" for offseason workouts. Barring any setbacks, expect him to be full-go by the time the season starts.

Gronkowski's 1.32 Reception Net Expected Points (NEP) per target last season were most among the 39 tight ends to see at least 35 targets on the year. That was significantly more than Dwayne Allen, who finished second with 0.95 Reception NEP per target.