On Friday, Rob Gronkowski and Danny Amendola were going to play.

On Saturday, it was reported that Gronkowski and Amendola did not travel with the Patriots to Atlanta.

Then, all hell broke lose.

Late Saturday night, The Boston Herald reported about a possible divide between Gronkowski and the Patriots about his availability. According to the article, the rift stems back to training camp, as the Patriots thought Gronkowski could be available as early as week two this season. Gronkowski, supposedly, has consistently targeted a return date around week six.

The NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport tweeted on Sunday that Gronkowski wants to play, but his dad isn’t letting him. Gronkowski sometimes acts like a fourth grader, so apparently his dad treats him like one too.

Patriots president Jonathan Kraft denied a difference of opinion between the team and Gronkowski on his playing status, saying “there is absolutely no disagreement between the team and Rob Gronkowski” on 98.5 “The Sports Hub” prior to Sunday night’s game.

So what gives? How come the notoriously tight-lipped Patriots have let word slip about Amendola’s and Gronkowski’s statuses?

Patriots toadies chastise media members who complain about Bill Belichick’s dismissive demeanor at press conferences, lecturing everyone that “there’s nothing to gain by revealing anything to the press” and the Patriots would turn into the Jets if Belichick slipped and said whether or not a player practiced.

But of course, there’s nothing to gain unless there is something to gain.

It usually doesn’t behoove the Patriots to reveal specific injury information about their players, because then opponents could alter their game plans accordingly.

It does benefit the Patriots to reveal injury information when they want to win a PR campaign, however.

The Patriots have caught a lot of flak for leaving Tom Brady with a pu pu platter of rookies and never-will-bes at receiver and tight-end to open the season. Rumors circulated last week that Brady was so upset with his receiving core, he was texting old girlfriends Deion Branch and Brandon Lloyd to please come back.

Nobody disputes Danny Amendola’s talent when he’s on the field. The problem is, he’s seldom on the field. Amendola has already missed the same amount of games this season as Wes Welker did in the entirety of his Patriots career.

Amendola suffered a complete muscle tear in his groin week one against the Bills, and the estimated recovery time for that injury without surgery is close to six weeks.

But yet, Amendola was present at Patriots practice two weeks ago before the game against the Bucanneers. Keep in mind, the media is only permitted to view practice for a select allotment of time. The Patriots wouldn’t show them anything they didn’t want them to see.

Belichick is the same guy who refused to confirm whether or not Albert Haynesworth was in the Patriots facility two years ago after they had traded for him. It’s unlikely  impossible that Belichick would’ve had a gimpy Amendola on the practice field two weeks ago if he didn’t want it reported that Amendola was close to returning.

The Patriots are putting on a charade with Amendola, and putting the pressure on Gronkowski.

It’s likely that Gronkowski remembers returning too soon from his forearm injury to play against the Texans in last season’s divisional-round of the playoffs, only to break it again.

Gronkowski might be overly cautious with his current recovery, but he did undergo multiple forearm and back surgeries over the summer. The more time he takes to recover now, the healthier he should be at the end of the season.

The Patriots don’t need Gronkowski right now. They’re 4-0, and they finally seem to be transforming back into the balanced, “we can win any kind of game” team that won three Super Bowls in four years.

The defense has allowed the seventh fewest points in the league, surrendering a stingy 57 points through the first four games. Aqib Talib leads the NFL with four interceptions, and appears to be the shutdown corner who the Patriots have lacked since letting Asante Samuel leave after 2007.

The Patriots scored 30 points on Sunday against the Falcons, and ran the ball as many times as they threw the ball (31 runs and 31 passes). Kenbrell Thompkins and Julian Edelman both had over 100 yards receiving as well.

With two non-divisional opponents next on the schedule (Bengals and Saints), the Patriots can afford to give Gronkowski more rest. He will play when he feels he’s ready, which should be around week six or seven.

Belichick knows fans have short-term memories, and will forgive any offseason missteps in the wake of an undefeated start. Welker, Aaron Hernandez and other central figures of March and June should be forgotten once the games begin in September. And if reports hadn’t leaked last week about Amendola’s and Gronkowski’s potential availability, they would be.

But they’re not, because the Patriots were sloppy. Maybe next time when asked to project Gronkowski’s status, the Patriots should sidestep the question. After all, there’s nothing to be gained by leaking anything to the media. Right?

Photos via Matt Stone/Boston Herald, Matt West/Boston Herald and patriotsgab

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