Leading up to Super Bowl LII, the bulk of the attention has been centered on the status of New England Patriots All-Pro tight end Rob Gronkowski concerning the concussion protocol.

According to Ian Rapoport of The NFL Network, Gronkowski appears to have cleared the protocol process as he's set to speak with the media on Thursday afternoon.

Gronkowski has steadily made progress over the last several days with his continued participation in practice that began last Saturday. He was a full go at practice in the two days after that and had limited participation on Wednesday. Throughout that entire evaluation process, Gronkowski didn't suffer any setbacks. The organization also didn't at any point voice any real concern about his availability for Super Bowl LII.

This shouldn't come as much of a surprise given that he stated earlier this week that he expected to play. Meanwhile, there were already various reports that the team privately held the same notion about his health ahead of the contest. Gronkowski suffered the concussion in the first half of the AFC Championship game against the Jacksonville Jaguars.

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UPDATE (5:33 p.m. ET): Gronkowski gives official word that he has been cleared.

The Patriots should feature Gronkowski heavily in the passing game as one of the primary targets against the Philadelphia Eagles. He has established a strong rapport with quarterback Tom Brady over the years, connecting for 75 touchdown passes, the second-most between a quarterback and tight end in NFL history. When healthy, he has proven to be arguably the best tight end in the league due to his unique ability impact the game as both a receiver and blocker at his position.

Gronkowski has also had much individual success in the playoffs throughout his career, as his 10 postseason receiving touchdowns are tied for third all-time behind only Jerry Rice’s 22 and John Stallworth’s 12. The 28-year-old is also first at his position with 856 receiving yards in the postseason, and he is tied for third all-time with three career 100-yard receiving performances.