INDIANAPOLIS-- New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick says he is hopeful tight end Rob Gronkowski will be able to play in Sunday's Super Bowl against the New York Giants.
At a walk-through session on Friday, Gronkowski showed no signs of any negative reaction from his first practice since a left ankle injury on January 22 in the AFC Championship game win over Baltimore.
"He practiced yesterday. He didn't do anything today," Belichick said. "We'll see where he's at on Sunday, but hopefully (he'll play). I saw no setbacks. He's still making progress."
Gronkowski moved without a limp when the Patriots went through their offensive plays. He is listed as questionable on New England's injury report for the game.
The 22-year-old set National Football League records for a tight end with 1,327 yards receiving and 17 touchdowns this season and is one of quarterback Tom Brady's favorite targets.
Belichick said he was sure his team had done enough work to prepare for the big game.
"I think we're ready to go. We've worked hard this week Monday, Wednesday and Thursday in practice, and we had good practices back (in Foxborough) last week. We went through some mental-review things out there (Friday)," he said.
The Patriots will not practice on Saturday but will have a team photograph taken at Lucas Oil Stadium, the site of Sunday's game.
"We'll have meetings and we'll do some reminders and things like that in our hotel but we're not going to actually practice," Belichick said.
New England players have a Friday night curfew.
"This will be what we normally do if we were on the road Friday night (for a Sunday game). We would have curfew," said the New England coach who is searching for a record-equaling fourth Super Bowl win.
