In the two-week run-up to the Super Bowl, the New England Patriots will face plenty of questions about Tom Brady's right hand and Rob Gronkowski's head.
Brady answered most of the concerns about whether the hand injury would hinder him with a strong performance in New England's AFC championship game victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Brady still has stitches in his right thumb. He hopes to have them removed some time this week, and doesn't expect any issue once Super Bowl week arrives.
"And then I can just get out there and get normal treatment like I always do and be ready to go," Brady said.
"This was a little injury at the end of the day. I mean, I've had a lot worse injuries than this."
Gronkowski will likely spend at least part of this week going through the concussion protocol. He suffered the injury in a helmet-to-helmet hit from Jacksonville safety Barry Church.
The game-changing tight end, Brady's favourite target, missed last year's Super Bowl run after undergoing season-ending back surgery.
"He was in pretty good spirits today when I spoke to him," special teams captain Matt Slater said.
Before he was injured, Gronkowski passed Dallas Clark to become the NFL's career leader for post-season yards at the position. If sidelined for Super Bowl, there's not much depth behind him. The only tight ends on New England's roster are Dwayne Allen and Jacob Hollister.
Allen has 10 receptions for 86 yards and a touchdown this season. Hollister has four catches for 42 yards and was inactive against Jacksonville.
Offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels said there was always a plan to adapt to injuries.
"You have to make some adjustments. We always go into the game with a certain idea of how we want to try to play it.
"It certainly doesn't always play out the way that you wanted it to or that you had hoped to or designed it to, but that happens in every game."
