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Fun fact: the Patriots have never scored an offensive point in the first quarter of any of the seven Super Bowls Bill Belichick has been head coach. They put up a goose egg against the Rams in 2001, no one scored in Super Bowl XXXVIII or in Super Bowl XXXIX, the Patriots were shut out the first time against the Giants and the second time against the Giants, and there were no points scored in Super Bowl XLIX and LI.

All told there have been 15 total first quarter points scored in the Patriots seven Super Bowl appearances under Belichick, with zero of those points being scored by the Patriots. I'm writing that right now and it doesn't seem real. 

Now, the Patriots have done just fine without scoring early and the lack of points has never resulted in any less drama on the field come Super Bowl time.

But it's been a bugaboo. And Belichick was asked about it on Tuesday by Mike Reiss of ESPN. He smiled (a little) but wasn't thrilled about the whole exchange:

Q: In your past Super Bowls your offense has never scored a point in the first quarter...

BB: Thanks, Mike [Reiss]. Yeah, all of the negative stuff in the Super Bowls we need to be aware of, too.

Q: How much do you look at that history this week and try to emphasize it to the team?

BB: Look, we try to score in every game. I know that's probably hard to understand, but we try to go out and score and keep the other team from scoring. That's our goal every game.

Q: Do you put in any extra time this week or change anything to highlight that as a point of emphasis?

BB: I mean, what's important is what happens this week against the Eagles. We're going to try and score. We're going to try and keep them from scoring.

Belichick isn't being a jerk to Reiss, who he clearly respects. But you could tell he wasn't pumped about answering questions related to "your team can't score early." Just worth noting as we move forward.

It set the stage for Belichick to be asked about Rob Gronkowski, who suffered a second-quarter concussion against the Jaguars in the AFC Championship Game and didn't return for the rest of the game. With two weeks to prepare, it is widely believed Gronk will be ready to play, but Belichick was not forthcoming with that information.

He can't really be, since it's a medical issue out of the Patriots hands, but things got a little dicey with a pushy reporter:

Q: Can you give us an update on Rob Gronkowski? Has he finished his time in the concussion protocol and you expect him to play?

BB: Yeah, we'll be compliant with the NFL injury report. When that's required, we'll put it on there.

Q: When is that process completed or finished?

BB: Whatever his situation is, whatever his status is, we'll put it on the injury report. We'll make sure you're the first one to get it.

Q: I'm sure you will.

BB: Yeah, not a problem.

Q: Do you expect him to play?

BB: We'll put it right on the injury report and that's what we're going to do, just like everybody else does. We'll make sure you're first on the list, too. I don't want to hold anything back here. We'll get that out there right away. That's all we can do.

Here's video of the tet-a-tet:

People can hate on Belichick for being short in press conferences, but this is literally out of his hands. He can't decide when Gronk will play -- he is going to get told by doctors what Gronk's status is. If the tight end is cleared -- and he likely will be cleared -- then Belichick and the Patriots will update it on the injury report.

We're not going to get much info on Gronk this week. Sit back, relax, expect him to play and don't be surprised when he's cleared next week.

Who knows, maybe he can even manage to score Belichick's first ever first quarter Super Bowl point.