Report: Gronk to take his sweet time coming back from ACL.

KontradictioN said:

Argument is still invalid. He made it through an entire, record setting season in 2011 and got injured in the AFCCG, making him a little more than a decoy (or a ******* decoy, as the Giants defenders put it). Football players get injured sometimes. That could happen whether it's in a regular season setting or in the playoffs. Sorry, but it's mind boggingly stupid to shelf your best players for the playoffs for fear of injury. By that logic, Brady, Mayo, Revis, Mankins, McCourty, and Wilfork should all be shelved until the playoffs.

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Those players haven't sustained injuries with the same frequency Gronk has. The majority of Gronk's injuries have occurred in the regular season. I am confident that if he is shelved until the playoffs he can give us 3 or 4 games. He gave us more than that last year after his return. Heck, Percy Harvin missed the entire year and was one of Seattle's best offensive weapons in the SB.

BelichickFan said:

He's tough physically, not mentally. He's scared of getting injured. We saw it in the Jacksonville game in his first game back from his original broken arm. It was shocking to see a big stud playing so soft to protect himself. I haven't played football in a long time (HS was a long time ago) so I have no right to judge him - but I will anyway. He's soft mentally when it comes to getting hurt. But when he does get banged up, he is tough in terms of playing through pain.

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Are you talking about this guy?

Ice_Ice_Brady said:

Did I miss something? I am hoping he doesn't play until the playoffs, at which point we can pray he's healthy until the first quarter of the Super Bowl =). I'm just kidding- it's frustrating to have a guy like that on the sidelines, but let's not frustration over some unfortunate breaks cloud our judgement.

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It's not the unfortunate break or even how long he actually takes to get back that pisses me off but the idea he is going to take his time rather than do everything possible to make it faster. He is soft and thinks he deserves special treatment...that's 2 strikes in my book.

By the way, there's no quote from Gronkowski in that article!

Brand new forum- same old posters.

signbabybrady said:

It's not the unfortunate break or even how long he actually takes to get back that pisses me off but the idea he is going to take his time rather than do everything possible to make it faster. He is soft and thinks he deserves special treatment...that's 2 strikes in my book.

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Hopefully we don't decide our roster based on your book.

RayClay said:

Are you talking about this guy?

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When he's on the field and doesn't have time to think there's no problem. That play was just reactionary. When he has time to think it through it's fairly clear he leans to the conservative (soft) side. Hopefully that report wasn't true. History suggests it was.

I would rather Gronk sit out the entirely regular season than have him ready for week 1. I think if we have a healthy Gronk/Revis/Brady we are going to win the SB if the rest of the team is reasonably healthy come playoff time.

"Football players play football" Bill Belichick

PatsWickedPissah said:

"Football players play football" Bill Belichick

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Unless you're Gronk. Then you spend most of your time rehabing.

Not surprising. I hope he's on the field when he's healthy.

I don't know how "last year" would factor into him being "more cautious" this year; it's not like he ended up on IR because he came back from rehabbing his forearm too early.

BelichickFan said:

He's tough physically, not mentally. He's scared of getting injured. We saw it in the Jacksonville game in his first game back from his original broken arm. It was shocking to see a big stud playing so soft to protect himself. I haven't played football in a long time (HS was a long time ago) so I have no right to judge him - but I will anyway. He's soft mentally when it comes to getting hurt. But when he does get banged up, he is tough in terms of playing through pain.

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He is faulted for being mentally weak because he didn't look menacing during a regular season game, late in the season, against the very worst team in the NFL, when his broken forearm wasn't even healed? Do you think it's possible that the coaching staff didn't want him to go all-out considering the playoffs were a few weeks away?

BobDigital said:

would rather Gronk sit out the entirely regular season than have him ready for week 1. I think if we have a healthy Gronk/Revis/Brady we are going to win the SB if the rest of the team is reasonably healthy come playoff time.

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And what if the Patriots are sitting at 9-5 and in a heated playoff hunt in week 16? You need to make the playoffs first. I get that it would be nice to have Gronk in the playoffs but him not playing in the regular season doesn't mean he won't get injured the first game he's on the field, regardless of what month it is.

Ice_Ice_Brady said:

He is faulted for being mentally weak because he didn't look menacing during a regular season game, late in the season, against the very worst team in the NFL, when his broken forearm wasn't even healed? Do you think it's possible that the coaching staff didn't want him to go all-out considering the playoffs were a few weeks away?

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Maybe they did. None of us KNOW, we're all guessing. I just know I have never, ever seen an NFL player (or college player for that matter) so desirous of avoiding contact to a certain part of body. Do I know the full story ? No. But he didn't look healthy mentally refarding his arm and his elongated stay out last year didn't help reassure.

This is the same thread as last year with Gronk.

Nothing changes.

FourierSeries said:

Those players haven't sustained injuries with the same frequency Gronk has. The majority of Gronk's injuries have occurred in the regular season. I am confident that if he is shelved until the playoffs he can give us 3 or 4 games. He gave us more than that last year after his return. Heck, Percy Harvin missed the entire year and was one of Seattle's best offensive weapons in the SB.

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Unless I'm missing something, in the pro's Gronk's big injuries are as follows (in chronological order):

1. Ankle
2. Forearm
3. Knee

Of those three injuries, two occurred in the playoffs (one was a re-injury that he was periously able to play on) and one happened even though he was shelved for roughly half the season. Again, guys get injured. Shelving them until the playoffs doesn't guarantee health afterward. As a matter of fact, it may guarantee injury more than health since they're not in "football shape" yet. Bottom line is that if your best players can play, you absolutely want them to play.

As for the TE position as a whole, TE was a need before but it becomes an even bigger need now. Gronk hasn't shown the ability to consistently stay healthy and even then he needs another guy to compliment him when he IS healthy.

Let him take his time he is not missing anything right now. When we get closer to training camp then he should start hurrying up. But right now whats the rush let him take his time and get to 100%.

Who here has torn an ACL and really expects a 100% recovery for a TIGHT END who is ready for week 1? For a QB it is not a big deal and AP is a freak of nature but most people need a full year to recover from an ACL/MCL tear.

I say week 6 or later and I will not lose any respect for him after having that injury myself.

2000army said:

Who here has torn an ACL and really expects a 100% recovery for a TIGHT END who is ready for week 1? For a QB it is not a big deal and AP is a freak of nature but most people need a full year to recover from an ACL/MCL tear.

I say week 6 or later and I will not lose any respect for him after having that injury myself.

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When this injury occurred, I was predicting very much the same thing. I received an awful lot of criticism, insults and personal attacks for having that opinion.

Now, roughly 6 months later, I am more sure that I was right. The people who were insulting me, however, have gotten awfully quiet.