What are your expectations moving forward with Gronkowski?

[Pessimistic Pete]

Gronk was on pace not only to be good, but the greatest tight-end in NFL history.

Now, for the 3rd season in a row, he has not been able to play/be healthy in the biggest game of the year (SB, AFCG, AFCG) and I truly believe it has cost us at least one ring, with a decent argument for three rings. Put a healthy Gronk in any of our last 3 season-enders and we win/advance to SB.

Now, in my mind, this guy is a huge, huge, question mark. What are your expectations moving forward after all these surgeries?

 

[Efstratios]

I expect Gronk to still be one of the best TE's in the league, but I also expect him to be the type of player that constantly misses 4-5 games a season, if lucky.

 

[Sticky Caulk]

Who can say?

Gronk reminds me of Brandon Jacobs, who could never stay healthy for the Giants. Too upright for a bulldozer style. The Patriots need to work with Gronkowski to get him more flexible, so he lowers himself into the tackle instead of trying to run through low hits. Less YAC, more playoff football. But really, the guy has been very unlucky.

 

[patsfan-1982]

I say he plays a full 16 and playoffs and leads the NFL in TD's but his going to have to change his game just a lil maybe pull a Randy Moss step out of bounds or hit the ground after the catch

 

[ausbacker]

Who can say?

Gronk reminds me of Brandon Jacobs, who could never stay healthy for the Giants. Too upright for a bulldozer style. The Patriots need to work with Gronkowski to get him more flexible, so he lowers himself into the tackle instead of trying to run through low hits. Less YAC, more playoff football. But really, the guy has been very unlucky.

How do you propose Rob Gronkowski and all 6'6 of him lowers his pads to avoid a collision with the 5'10 T.J. Ward who aimed for his knees?

You've nailed Gronk's condition with your last point. The guy has been dead unlucky.

 

[dales804]

I guess I expect that he will be Gronk again. It's just I don't want the Patriots offense to be depending on him because of the three years in a row he's been hobbled come playoff time. If he's on the field that would be terrific but I am not expecting that at this point in time.

 

[Observer]

Easy solution for Gronkowski: go down if you are tackled !

 

[Tunescribe]

I expect that it's one day at a time and having expectations of any kind at this point about Gronkowski is frivolously irrelevant.

 

[varjao]

As I've said many times, imho either he changes the intensity he plays and go soft or these injuries will be a constant in his life until he reaches the point of consider giving up.

Remember that TD against Kansas City 2 seasons ago I think, he fell from the 2nd floor direct over his neck, that was an insane play. It's awesome, but you can't expect to play that way and be healthy for the playoffs.

But, he's not the type of player dealing constantly with hip issues, hamstring, groin, etc...his body is really strong, he's a bull. So I'm not labeling him as a injury prone yet since all his injuries came from contact, but he's got a damn bad luck and one could say reckless, but so far all the injuries came from bad luck/direct contact.

I'm worried about his knee, that was bad. I don't know, can anyone answer, when you have a tore ACL, does it matter the angle, how did that happen, or once the ligament is ruptured it's all about the same injury? Adrian Peterson came back better than good, RG3andout on the other hand came back crippled.

 

[ensoul]

Super Bowl= Ankle sprain.
2013 AFC title game out with a Broken Arm (second time that season he broke it)
2014 AFC title game-Out ACL/MCL tear. Also missed half the season.

While its not entirely his fault that fact is he is unreliable.

 

[Koma]

As I've said many times, imho either he changes the intensity he plays and go soft or these injuries will be a constant in his life until he reaches the point of consider giving up.

Remember that TD against Kansas City 2 seasons ago I think, he fell from the 2nd floor direct over his neck, that was an insane play. It's awesome, but you can't expect to play that way and be healthy for the playoffs.

But, he's not the type of player dealing constantly with hip issues, hamstring, groin, etc...his body is really strong, he's a bull. So I'm not labeling him as a injury prone yet since all his injuries came from contact, but he's got a damn bad luck and one could say reckless, but so far all the injuries came from bad luck/direct contact.

I'm worried about his knee, that was bad. I don't know, can anyone answer, when you have a tore ACL, does it matter the angle, how did that happen, or once the ligament is ruptured it's all about the same injury? Adrian Peterson came back better than good, RG3andout on the other hand came back crippled.

I'm pretty much on the same page as you. I don't think we'll ever see the 1300 yard/17 TD Gronkowski again. He can still be very, very good, but I think he may play a little more conservatively in the future and his production will be closer to Jason Witten's than his 2011 season. That won't be a bad thing if he can be healthy all season and for the playoffs.

 

[Jackson 2]

I'm not worried about his return to good health. ACL injuries today are relatively routine compared to 20 years ago when they were often career-ending. He's still very young and I think he'll be just as fast and strong as he's always been. What I do wonder and worry about to some degree is whether or not he's just going to always be one of those guys who is unlucky enough to be semi-regularly injured. Thus far, that certainly seems possible. I hope I'm dead wrong because when healthy he's the best tight end I've ever seen and the first pro game I ever attended was the Pats' first one against Denver in 1960, so I've seen a few.

 

[chasa]

i think hes got the talent to be the best tight end in history, I think we wont ever see him achieve that because he cant stay on the field.

 

[everlong]

Sadly I expect him to be a NFL Films production special in 25 years and people will think wow I never heard of this guy he was a monster. What could have been if he could have stayed healthy.

EDIT: Quite possibly it will be called: A Football Life The Greatest TE Duo That Could Have Been.

 

[Rob0729]

People only focus on the last year and a 1/3 and forget that Gronk did not miss a game his first two season and the first ten games of his third season.

I expect he will be back and close to 100% by the start of the season and play at an elite level (or close to it). He may get hurt again or he could go on another 2 2/3 run where he doesn't miss a game.

 

[Kontradiction]

Based on his history outside of his rookie season, I would expect that he'll be available for TC, kill it in the games he does play in, then, at some point either during the season or the postseason, suffer anything from a nagging injury that causes him to miss games to a season-ending injury. Love the guy and he has the potential to be one of the best in NFL history when it's all said and done, but he's been injury prone to date.

 

[everlong]

People only focus on the last year and a 1/3 and forget that Gronk did not miss a game his first two season and the first ten games of his third season.

I expect he will be back and close to 100% by the start of the season and play at an elite level (or close to it). He may get hurt again or he could go on another 2 2/3 run where he doesn't miss a game.

With the rule changes and DBs going low it's not a 50\50 proposition especially given his history.

 

[Sticky Caulk]

How do you propose Rob Gronkowski and all 6'6 of him lowers his pads to avoid a collision with the 5'10 T.J. Ward who aimed for his knees?

You've nailed Gronk's condition with your last point. The guy has been dead unlucky.

I never brought that particular hit up, so I don't know what you want as an answer there.

Gronk isn't the first big TE. Jeremy Stevens kept himself relatively healthy at 6'7. Jimmy Graham is 6'7 and gets targeted just like Gronkowski. Rarely misses a game.

I brought up Brandon Jacobs because of how he reminds me of Gronk with the ball and the hits they both take by initiating hard contact while running completely upright. Jacobs was always very beat up and quickly went from promising starter to a nobody because of all the violence he was involved in.

Like I said, the big factor in the games missed for Gronk is bad luck. The leg injury. Both arm injuries. But Gronkowski has had health issues his entire career, including college.

 

[BrickPat]

Gronk's career thus far has proven that he will be an absolute beast when healthy but cannot be relied upon to stay healthy. That's not a knock on him just acknowledging a reality.

 

[RIpats88]

I dont know yet whether Gronk has been injury prone or just unlucky. his first two years he was very durable, and throughout most of last season

ANYONE and I mean ANYONE would've torn their ACL with that hit on their knee. that was just unfortunate.

And the broken arm was on a fluke point after attempt. and then the Doctors pushed him to come back too soon

so, at this point, maybe he continues his string of bad luck? or maybe he returns to his durability throughout the early portion of his career