Todd Bowles says Rob Gronkowski reached out to Bucs

Tampa Bay Buccaneers coach Todd Bowles confirmed that retired tight end Rob Gronkowski recently reached out to the team about possibly returning for a playoff push. Bowles told the Tampa Bay Times that nothing serious came of the call. "It was more of a conversation than anything else," Bowles said. "Usually, when you have to think about playing, you probably don't want to play. When it's just a discussion, I didn't think much of it at the time." Gronkowski, 33, who retired for the second time in June, sparked social media interest Wednesday by tweeting three words: "I'm kinda bored." Under Gronkowski's longtime quarterback Tom Brady, the Buccaneers (6-8) still lead the NFC South by one game heading into Sunday night's road game against the Arizona Cardinals (4-10). A four-time Super Bowl champion and five-time Pro Bowl selection, Gronkowski caught 621 passes for 9,286 yards and 92 touchdowns in 143 games for the New England Patriots (2010-18) and Bucs (2020-21). He sat out the 2019 season in his first retirement. --Field Level Media