Rumors are rife that New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady will bag this year’s NFL Most Valuable Player (MVP) Award. This after a supposed acceptance speech of Brady for the award surfaced online. Elliott Schlossman of the Grand Forks Herald shared a photo of a man carrying a document entitled “Brady Acceptance Speech” at a Patriots press conference.

The photo fuelled rumors that Brady will be named MVP when the award is handed out on Saturday.

If ever Brady is named MVP, it will come as no surprise since he’s a 1-3 favorite to win the award over Los Angeles Rams running back Todd Gurley, who is a 2-1 favorite for the MVP trophy.

Despite his age, the 40-year-old Brady performed like an MVP this season, throwing for a league-best 4,577 yards and 32 touchdowns with just eight interceptions and leading the Patriots to a 13-3 record in the regular season. If he wins the MVP trophy, Brady will join Jim Brown, Brett Favre and Johnny Unitas with three MVP awards each. Peyton Manning, who played for the Indianapolis Colts and the Denver Broncos, won five MVP trophies in his career.

Gronkowski passes concussion protocol

On Thursday, Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski announced that he’s passed the NFL's concussion protocol, meaning he will suit up in Sunday’s Super Bowl LII against the Philadelphia Eagles.

“I'll be full go, ready to roll," Gronkowski said during his first press conference since he suffered a concussion in the first half of their AFC Championship Game win over the Jacksonville Jaguars. Gronkowski joined the Patriots’ practice on Wednesday, 11 days after he was placed on concussion protocol. Gronkowski suffered a concussion after taking a helmet-to-helmet hit from Jaguars safety Barry Church.

The Patriots are counting on Gronkowski to play an important role against the Eagles, who have had a hard time defending tight ends in the regular season where they yielded 73 catches for 745 yards and five touchdowns. In the regular season, Gronkowski tallied 69 catches for 1,084 yards and eight touchdowns for the Patriots.

Patriots getting closer to full strength

Per WEEI.com, every Patriots player fully participated during Thursday’s practice session. Aside from Gronkowski, Deatrich Wise, Brandon King and Malcolm Butler were full participants after being limited Wednesday. According to the pool report, the Patriots’ practice lasted two hours, which they used to work on special teams and coverage. On Friday, the Patriots are expected to have a light practice session, with Stephen Gostkowski and Ryan Allen practicing kicks at the stadium.
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