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CLICK HERE to Register for a free account and login for a smoother ad-free experience. It's easy, and only takes a few moments.Will we see Gronk before the playoffs?
I think he'll be back long before the 2nd round. The 49er game next week will mark 4 weeks since the injury so he could very realistically be back by then. Worst case scenario IMO is the following week or final regular season game.
At the very earliest, we'll be seeing him next week.
No. Absolutely not.
I can't imagine any scenario where they would risk bringing him back before the playoffs, and that's "if" he would even be able to go anyway. We already won the division and are guaranteed a playoff spot. There's no sense at all in bringing him back early to try and secure a bye, which may be won/lost for the most part in the next 2 games anyway.
Bringing him back for the Jags or Dolphins game would not be the smartest of moves, especially due to the nature of the injury where the bone is broken on the outside and has very little blood flow to begin with. That bone needs to heal properly and fully, and I don't see how he'd possibly be ready to go before one of the last 2 games anyway, if not the regular season finale.
If we have to play in the WC round it would be January 4th/5th, which would be the better part of 6-7 weeks. If we receive the bye he wouldn't have to come back until Jan.11th/12th, which would be 7-8 full weeks of recovery and the best case scenario.
If he can safely return, they need him in before the playoffs to knock the rust off and get back in sync with the offense.. You don't want his first game back in real action in a single elimination playoff game.
He might come back for the week 17 game in a limited role to shake off some rust and get some game timing back. They can protect that arm from further damage if the fracture is not too extensive and has mended sufficiently.
They're fine without him, though, and should err on the side of caution.