Ice_Ice_Brady

Sorry for being a downer, but I just have to ask if anyone else is as concerned as I am about Rob Gronkowski. Reports about hip and back injuries- and the fact that he seems to get up gingerly so often- have gotten me worried.

Gronk is still playing at a fairly high level, but it's not the statistics that bother me. His ability to run seem routes helped to stretch the field the last two years and usually took a safety into coverage. In addition, the Patriots are shaky in the red zone if the running game isn't clicking, which was never a problem due to Gronk's presence. It is obvious that he is hurting, lacking explosiveness, and not really trusted to make athletic, leaping plays. If you don't believe this, go back and watch tape from last year. Completely different player. He just doesn't seem to be having any fun either, which is his hallmark. Will we see that dominating player again this year? Are you concerned this back injury will linger throughout his career?

It's strange to think that the Patriots' offense thus far have used tight ends as complementary pieces to the offense and not the showcase, yet are still averaging over 30 ppg.

Anyway, if anyone has some awesome inside information about Gronk's injury (and how there's nothing to worry about long-term), I would feel better =).

Patriots Nation NY

lol ... eye contact

Sciz

He's playing through a lot of pain, and as long as it's nothing but pain, there's really no reason to shut him down at least until the bye. Hopefully we'll see explosive Gronk after that.

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Ice_Ice_Brady

That's what I am hoping too, but it seems like his health is getting worse right now, not better. In Week 2 vs Arizona, I remember Brady overthrew him on a 50 yard pass that should have been a TD. Can't imagine him running that route based on what I've seen for the last month.

Silver,Blue&Red

Yes, He looks like he's in pain. After this game I think there are quite a few guys beat up a little. That was a physical, wet, slippy, slidey game. It's gonna be a long, tired flight home.

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bostonia3333

I've been wanting to start a thread like this, but chose not to

Its easy to discern that Gronk's burst off the line of scrimmage just isn't there. His ability to get separation and leverage are clearly down. And I agree he doesn't look to be having fun---injuries always affect a super young player's psyche the worst

I remember last year, Brady would do his video game dropback and just rifle it down the middle to Gronk for a 17 yd gain like it was nothing. I've been missing that all season and I'm sure it pains him to not be able to do that anymore. It's unreal how an injury can just bring you back down to earth like that. It's gotta suck for Gronk, he was the most gifted offensive player in the league last year outside of Megatron. I think we can blame good ole Bernie Pollard for alot of this. High ankle sprains usually linger for awhile, and some are just career nagging.

Ifleninwasawizard

Some of this could be McDaniels experimenting with things. He messed around with Edelman at the beginning of the year, but proved he still knows how to employ Welker. Everyone was freaking out at the 3rd and long draws to Woodhead at the beginning of the year, but now we can see why they made sense.

I'm not denying that Gronk could be hurt, that is totally possible.

But my gut feeling is that BB and McDaniels are making sure that 2007 never happens again. Basically, they are taking risks and breaking away from proven formula's so that the team doesn't become predictable. By the end of 2007 everyone knew the only way to even hope to stop the pats was by focusing almost exclusively on taking away Moss over the top and Welker underneath. Moss and Welker were the showpieces, and everyone knew how they were going to be used.

Our two TE sets may still be the showpiece to our offense, we just aren't really showing it yet. We are learning how to use Lloyd and the running game to their full extent. If we can do that and still have the two TE showpiece in our back pocket we'll be able to game plan against every NFL defense without them really being able to game plan against us.

ivanvamp

Gronk is on pace for the following numbers:

77 rec
949 yds
8 td

Which is WAY down from last year. But that's not unexpected, for a variety of reasons:

(1) The addition of Brandon Lloyd, who is taking away receptions from other receivers. Last year, Branch had 51 receptions for 702 yards. This year, Lloyd is on pace for 91 rec for 1069 yds.

(2) The running game is eating up a bunch of passing opportunities. Last year the Pats ran 438 times for 1764 yds. This year, they're on pace to run the ball 579 times for 2437 yds.

Now, they're still throwing a lot, but they're spreading it around to more players than Gronk. I also think he's playing hurt, and defenses are keying on him more than they did last year. In various prediction threads before the start of the year, I predicted that Gronk would have a good year (by average NFL standards, a really good year), but that it would be down from last year. How could it be as good as last year? He did things never before done in the history of the NFL. Very hard to repeat record-setting seasons.

EDIT: By the way, Wes Welker continues to amaze. He's currently on pace for 128 receptions for 1659 yds. Unbelievable.

stcjones

I don't think there is any question that this is not the same Gronk this year as compared to last. Don't have stats handy but as we all know Gronk was one of Brady's favorite targets last year and was able to run long or short routes with amazing speed for a big guy. He did it all last year. Now of course it would have been nearly impossible for him to match year's magic and stats. But he has been WAY off from last year. Seems rarely targeted,slower on routes etc. Maybe it is the coming back from the ankle injury and the new hip and back issues that are slowing him down or being played "cautiously "...who knows. My primary worry for him is his back since he had pretty serious surgery there of course. Anyways, lets home we see the "old"Gronk out there soon....they need him!

AQUOTE=Ice_Ice_Brady;3199586]Sorry for being a downer, but I just have to ask if anyone else is as concerned as I am about Rob Gronkowski. Reports about hip and back injuries- and the fact that he seems to get up gingerly so often- have gotten me worried.

Gronk is still playing at a fairly high level, but it's not the statistics that bother me. His ability to run seem routes helped to stretch the field the last two years and usually took a safety into coverage. In addition, the Patriots are shaky in the red zone if the running game isn't clicking, which was never a problem due to Gronk's presence. It is obvious that he is hurting, lacking explosiveness, and not really trusted to make athletic, leaping plays. If you don't believe this, go back and watch tape from last year. Completely different player. He just doesn't seem to be having any fun either, which is his hallmark. Will we see that dominating player again this year? Are you concerned this back injury will linger throughout his career?

It's strange to think that the Patriots' offense thus far have used tight ends as complementary pieces to the offense and not the showcase, yet are still averaging over 30 ppg.

Anyway, if anyone has some awesome inside information about Gronk's injury (and how there's nothing to worry about long-term), I would feel better =).[/QUOTE]

Shed83

Most people thought his production would go down this year for a variety of reasons,

More running plays, more game planning from the opposition, more targets for brady to use. Gronk has done a lot more blocking this season than last.

But one thing that stood out to me so far is his hands. He has dropped some passes this year that he just didnt/wouldnt last year.

Its also surprising how little he has been targeted in the end zone - im not sure if that is his problem with lack of seperation, Brady just not getting the ball to him or if its the play calls.