Brady, Gronkowski, among others won't play

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By Tom E. Curran
CSNNE.com Patriots InsiderFollow @tomecurran
FOXBORO - When the full Patriots team gathered in the end zone before pregame drills, Tom Brady strode up to rookie left tackle Nate Solder. He reached to shake Solder's hand then measured and smashed his helmet against that of the first-round pick. Brady does that a lot to get himself ampred before games. It appears Solder wasn't aware. He didn't have his chin strap on and his helmet almost popped off. And that was the extent of the contact Brady gets in in this preseason opener. He watched this game from the sidelines.
Tight end Rob Gronkowski dressed but watched pregame drills, he was the only tight end not taking part in some of the blocking run-throughs. Meanwhile, Logan Mankins and Vince Wilfork were also not fully turned out in game gear, and did not playJerod Mayo, Devin McCourty, and Leigh Bodden sat out as well, and it is clear Bill Belichick is taking a slow approach to bringing his usual starters into game mode.

Tom E. Curran can be reached at tcurran@comcastsportsnet.com. Follow Tom on Twitter at http:twitter.comtomecurran

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