Gronk outplayed Jimmy Graham today

The Scrizz said:

Or maybe practicing is the only way to get in even the semblance of game shape.

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If six weeks of constant practice with the team hasn't gotten him in shape enough for even a handful of game reps, then I doubt that a couple more weeks is going to make any difference one way or the other. Let him work with the trainers full-time and see if they can't speed his recovery.

hwc said:

Since Gronkowski is not healthy enough for football, it's too risky to keep exposing him to injury in the practice field.

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There are different levels of ready, and Gronk is apparently at the level where he can do a lot of things but not everything. For example, I'm sure they aren't letting Gregory nail Gronk in the back like he did to that Saint (and Mayo), but they can't tell the opposing safeties to do that in the game. That's a big difference.

hwc said:

If six weeks of constant practice with the team hasn't gotten him in shape enough for even a handful of game reps, then I doubt that a couple more weeks is going to make any difference one way or the other. Let him work with the trainers full-time and see if they can't speed his recovery.

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You're acting like Gronk is making his own medical decisions as he goes. In reality, he's got a ton of qualified people figuring these things out for him. They've determined that he can practice. They're a hella lot more qualified to say what Gronk should do with his body than anybody on here.*

*Unless anybody is a doctor. Then they can feel free to correct me.

To be honest, I'm not really concerned about Gronk at this point. He hasn't played and there is no reason to believe that he is ready to play. I'm more concerned with the New England Patriots and the players who are on the active roster.

I have no idea what Gronk's situation is. I'm just going on the facts. He's not able to play. Give the practice reps to actual players. They need all they can get. It's doing them a disservice to give reps to players who aren't going to be active.

Ben Volin ‏@BenVolin 15m

Thread title on #Patriots message board: "Rob Gronkowski outplayed Jimmy Graham today." Ouch

8:50 AM - 14 Oct 13 · Details

https://twitter.com/BenVolin/status/389750054094766080


Seems like the new guy is on here.

Peter King explains why Rob Gronkowski helped Pats beat Saints » The Dan Patrick Show | Official Home

King said that New England tight end Rob Gronkowski didn’t play but actually contributed by playing on the scout team: “Brady sent me an email overnight and said basically the same thing Troy Aikman said, Gronkowski was fantastic on the scout team playing Jimmy Graham.”

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hwc said:

If six weeks of constant practice with the team hasn't gotten him in shape enough for even a handful of game reps, then I doubt that a couple more weeks is going to make any difference one way or the other. Let him work with the trainers full-time and see if they can't speed his recovery.

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So anyone who isn't ready to play today will never be?
Should we cut Talib?

hwc said:

To be honest, I'm not really concerned about Gronk at this point. He hasn't played and there is no reason to believe that he is ready to play. I'm more concerned with the New England Patriots and the players who are on the active roster.

I have no idea what Gronk's situation is. I'm just going on the facts. He's not able to play. Give the practice reps to actual players. They need all they can get. It's doing them a disservice to give reps to players who aren't going to be active.

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So when he is ready to play and his practice reps were given to a scrub so he struggles at first, you will say they should have gotten him ready to play?

AndyJohnson said:

So when he is ready to play and his practice reps were given to a scrub so he struggles at first, you will say they should have gotten him ready to play?

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It's all hypothetical at this point. He's not playing. We have to assume that it's because he's not medically able to be active for a game. The Pats can worry about all that when he is cleared to return to the field. Right now, he appears to be "practicing" for no reason. I'm not sure what he's "practicing" for.

BTW, I think the Pats also need to bring in another tight end, since it appears that Gronkowski will be out indefinitely.

hwc said:

It's all hypothetical at this point. He's not playing. We have to assume that it's because he's not medically able to be active for a game. The Pats can worry about all that when he is cleared to return to the field. Right now, he appears to be "practicing" for no reason. I'm not sure what he's "practicing" for.

BTW, I think the Pats also need to bring in another tight end, since it appears that Gronkowski will be out indefinitely.

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But you have absolutely no clue where he is at in terms of how close he is to ready.
You are using your disappointment that he isn't playing yet as a basis for how the team should handle his rehab, which is silly.

I'm sure everyone is disappointed that he is unable to return to the playing field and is hoping that he heals quickly.

I'm concerned about the needless risk to the player of having him practice day after day, week after week, month after month when he is not going to play on Sunday. I'm concerned about the offensive players on the active gameday roster who are not getting as many reps as they could if an inactive player weren't taking them.

I'm not saying put him on IR. I'm just saying that, at some point, you've got to try something different. If physical pain (arm or back) is keeping him off the field, then you have to ask whether the wear and tear of practice is helping.

I still feel that keeping him off the PUP was valuable even if he doesnt return until week 7, 8, or even 9....it has allowed him to practice and get in game shape so that when he is cleared by his doctors he should be out there full speed.

also, lets be honest. whatever scrub they sign to be the 53rd man on the roster isnt going to contribute to this football team in a significatn way IMO...even if Gronk had a 10% chance of returning during those 6 weeks its better than a PS-quality player

deters said:

Mankins: 'Rather talk about the guys that frickin' put it on the line tonight'

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Just watched the interview, and maybe it's supposed to be a dog-whistle but it really didn't come off that way. He followed it up with props to specific people who made big plays in a big win. It's not like he said "Yeah Rob Gronkowski, she'll be ready to play when she's ready to play" or something douchey like that.

So call me crazy but I'm taking it at face value.

And by the way... this guy's still bleeding old-pats-jersey red.... He's GOT to be on our radar...

https://twitter.com/jwiggs85

j/k

hwc said:

I'm sure everyone is disappointed that he is unable to return to the playing field and is hoping that he heals quickly.

I'm concerned about the needless risk to the player of having him practice day after day, week after week, month after month when he is not going to play on Sunday. I'm concerned about the offensive players on the active gameday roster who are not getting as many reps as they could if an inactive player weren't taking them.

I'm not saying put him on IR. I'm just saying that, at some point, you've got to try something different. If physical pain (arm or back) is keeping him off the field, then you have to ask whether the wear and tear of practice is helping.

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Practicing is part of getting in football shape and preparing to play.
Why would you do something different. By all accounts he is progressing and getting ready to play. As of the middle of last week he himself was confident he would be cleared. It turned out he was not. For some reason people consider this a set back and I do not quite understand why.
I'm getting close I hope I can be ready this week, followed by I'm not quite ready yet is not a setback its just an inaccurate prediction.

I am perfectly fine that Gronk is preparing himself as the scout team TE so he can be ready when its time, and see no harm to the team that Matt Mulligan didn't play Jimmy Graham last week on the scout team. In fact some feel it contributed to the win.

PatsFanInVa said:

Just watched the interview, and maybe it's supposed to be a dog-whistle but it really didn't come off that way. He followed it up with props to specific people who made big plays in a big win. It's not like he said "Yeah Rob Gronkowski, she'll be ready to play when she's ready to play" or something douchey like that.

So call me crazy but I'm taking it at face value.

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What a tool Felger is. Mankins had no malice in his response whatsoever. Ridiculous non story.

This team seems to play well against TEs - remember the Dallas game 2 years ago - Jason Witten had trouble getting off of the LOS. One of the few times he couldn't.

DisgruntledTunaFan said:

This team seems to play well against TEs - remember the Dallas game 2 years ago - Jason Witten had trouble getting off of the LOS. One of the few times he couldn't.

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Huh? Defending TEs are probably this teams biggest weakness, yesterday was an anomaly and absolutely incredible gameplan and execution.

For everyone who thinks Gronk should have been PUPed: which practice squad player do you think would have been more important to the team by being active?

Because let's not kid ourselves here. The opportunity cost of leaving Gronk on the roster is that you have one more guy on the practice squad instead of being a gameday inactive every week. That's it - that's the entire cost. It's worth it if Gronk is ready to take the field 10 minutes earlier because of the practice time than he's had, let alone a week or 2.

Honestly, if they thought Vereen would be healed within 8 weeks, then I wish they'd done the same with him rather than in-season IRing him. Getting these guys back at full speed even one game earlier is more valuable than having someone else in a gameday inactive roster spot.

strngplyr said:

Huh? Defending TEs are probably this teams biggest weakness, yesterday was an anomaly and absolutely incredible gameplan and execution.

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That was because the Pats didn't defend Graham as a TE. As far as they were concerned, he was a WR, and beyond that, he was the #1 WR. The Pats generally do a poor job of defending TEs, but they do a great job of taking out the #1 WR if they make a priority of it (see Andre Johnson last year, as well as VJax, Green and Julio Jones this year).

Now let's hope that Talib's injury isn't serious so that they can keep on doing that.

Gronk was playing the Graham role in practice last week so if we assume that was an important part of shutting Graham down yesterday then that alone makes it worth not PUPing Gronk.