Probable, questionable, doubtful and out - those are the categories from which Belichick is forced to select, and for a man who values versatility above all else, that just isn't enough...
The gruff elder statesman of current NFL coaches is a fan of the old school - if you can walk, you can play. But litigious ex-football players and past wagering transgressions have caused a need for transparency when it comes to injury, so when Belichick submits his weekly list of maladies and afflictions he complies with the league-wide mandate...
...a bit too well, perhaps, as he will list "every hangnail", according to Baltimore Ravens' coach John Harbaugh - and would classify him as probable. But if Belichick had his way, there would be a fifth option, and almost every player that appears on his list would fall under that category: Day to day.
Given that, it will be interesting to see how he lists his all-world tight end Rob Gronkowski on Wednesday's report, as he makes his way back from multiple surgeries of his right forearm and a microscopic procedure on his back two and a half months ago.
The New England Patriots are clearly a different team when Gronkowski is on the field - and now that it seems that he'll be returning to field more quickly than anyone could have hoped, it's time to start thinking of the offense as a whole entity.
No one but Coach Bill Belichick knows for sure when the all world tight end will join his teammates on the field, but if history has taught us anything it's genuinely not worth rushing him back to field - the fans know this, the media knows this and the team most assuredly knows this, which begs the question: Are they?
"He's day to day" said Belichick during his weekly presser on Monday afternoon - and when pushed by a beat writer about whether he has a chance to play this Sunday, he repeated, "he's day to day".
That's not a "no". The again, it's not a yes either.
He's going to be back either Sunday at Buffalo or next Thursday's home opener against the New York Jets in front of a national television audience - if only for just a couple of plays to get his feet wet, so to speak - and all with the blessings of his surgeon who, shortly after his procedure in mid-June proclaimed that Gronkowski would be ready to "resume normal everyday activities within 4-6 weeks", that date coinciding with the start of Patriots' training camp.
And under several layers of cover, Gronkowski has been working with the Patriots' strength and conditioning coaches under the watchful eye of team doctors...
...this we know because when Gronkowski was spotted getting in a pretty good workout off to the side in practice last week, Belichick stated that "He's been doing the same thing every day" since Day 1 of camp, and that, "He's been out here every day. He's been in camp the whole - he hasn't missed a day of camp."
Given the time table and and Bill's gamesmanship in response to increased scrutiny of his handling of the roster, nothing he does with Gronkowski would be a surprise - but maybe we'll get a better idea of where he stands on Wednesday, when the first injury report of the regular season is due in the league offices.
Regardless, he's going to be back soon, and when he does return to the field, it gonna seem like a freshman mixer back on the campus of the University of Arizona, especially amongst the pass catchers, most of whom he's never been on the field with - but in this case no malted hops nor red carpet wrestling, rather, pass patterns and blocking assignments.
Because the pass catching corps features unprecedented youth and a defined pecking order - and it's going to work much more efficiently when the big goofy tight end is there to absorb the attention of the defense.
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