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Not long after agent Drew Rosenhaus announced (via mass text sent to a number of media outlets) that Rob Gronkowski had been cleared to play Sunday by doctors, the tight end took to YouTube to trumpet his return.

In a featurette not sponsored by the team, but by BODYARMOR SuperDrink, Gronk shared exclusive footage of his rehab from back and multiple forearm surgeries and spoke more openly than he has in months.

"I feel so much better than I have in the past few weeks; compared to last week right now at this time, I feel great," Gronkowski said. "... You might think that we just show up and play on Sundays, but there's so much behind the scenes ... that goes on before you can get back out on the field."

You can watch the video here.

In the video, his words flow over images of a melancholy Gronkowski nestled on his couch and wandering alone through the empty Patriots locker room. This gives way to a montage showing Gronk pounding weights and sweating profusely.

"It's going to be a great feeling to run back out there through that tunnel and get back out there with them," Gronkowski tells the camera, before the whole thing melts into a still image of a drink product peddled by BODYARMOR above the hashtag #BackToSuper.

As NFL.com suggested, probably not how the Patriots wanted this to play out, but he's back, and that's all that matters to the people of New England. ...

For the record, the Patriots haven't officially confirmed Gronkowski will play this week; he's listed as questionable on the final injury report. I'll follow up as needed. ...

Also. ... While the offense could have Gronkowski back on the field, it will be without wide receiver Danny Amendola, who left last week's game due to a concussion and missed practice each day this week. He was listed as out on the team’s Friday injury report.

It will be the fourth missed game for Amendola this season, as he also sat out three weeks due to a groin injury earlier this season. In his absence, the Patriots have relied on veteran Julian Edelman, a trio of rookie pass-catchers and recently signed Austin Collie, the former Indianapolis Colt.