Gronk alarmism (or not)

Rob0729 said:

People forget that Gronk played 42 straight regular season games without missing a game. Other than the big injuries, Gronk is usually one of the more durable guys out there.

BTW, I never liked Mike Freeman. I always found his writing to be pedestrian.

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Misleading

Gronk has only completed 1 regular season starting all 16 games - 2011 where he was injured in the AFCC and a decoy in the Super Bowl. Gronk wasn't Gronk until the 2011 season that put him in the same class as Gates, Gonzalez, Graham and the like. If most folks don't really care if Gronk is healthy and involved in every post season game, then there is no concern.

If we exclude NE Patriots post season losses over the last few year we can come up with all sorts of impressive winning percentages. Id rather have another SB Championship banner though.

I think the way you keep a Guy like Gronk healthy is the use of multiple formations some with him and some without him. This is the Deepest group of WR's we had had since Brady has been here I don't think its a coincidence. I think we will more prepared this time around if the Inevitable happens. I love our supporting cast this time around we could possibly sustain some injuries on Offense and not skip beat...that said if Gronk stays healthy they can just give us the Lombardi right now. I really in my heart hope the Big guy give us a full season.

I think we're going to see a different play book this year with a more conservative usage of Gronk during the regular season. The state of our O line will likely demand his help blocking, particularly for the run game. His days of flipping over his neck into the end zone are hopefully a thing of the past. Those expecting huge yardage and TD numbers for him this year will likely be disappointed.

That said, I really think it a stretch of the imagination to label him as injury prone just yet. Has he been a little reckless? Yes. Is he made of glass? God no.

Rob0729 said:

People forget that Gronk played 42 straight regular season games without missing a game. Other than the big injuries, Gronk is usually one of the more durable guys out there.

BTW, I never liked Mike Freeman. I always found his writing to be pedestrian.

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Rob you just don't put Gronk in the same sentence as the word *durable* that he has *not been* for a while. I don't think BB or anybody is betting the house on Gronk staying healthy.

Gronk's injuries have weakened his body. Having had sports injuries I know once a body part
is injured is sets you up for further injuries and not necessarily to the same injured location, IMO. I know
they say a repaired ACL is stronger than the original. Tell that to your body. Maybe because the body tries to compensate for a weakened condition the risk to injury increases. Consciously you don't think
about it but something happens.
I wouldn't be surprised to see Gronk have another injury.

Haley said:

I think we're going to see a different play book this year with a more conservative usage of Gronk during the regular season. The state of our O line will likely demand his help blocking, particularly for the run game. His days of flipping over his neck into the end zone are hopefully a thing of the past. Those expecting huge yardage and TD numbers for him this year will likely be disappointed.

That said, I really think it a stretch of the imagination to label him as injury prone just yet. Has he been a little reckless? Yes. Is he made of glass? God no.

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Thats my thinking I think Gronk is now officailly one of those handle with care packages. I think we all want a healthy Playoffs Gronk a not a crazy regular season Gronk.

Gronkandez said:

Why do people keay he was hit by Pollard? I don't recall such a hit. Do you mean TJ Ward??

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Pollard rolled up on his ankle in the 2011 AFCCG on a catch and run up the sideline. It ruined Gronk for the Super Bowl. If he was healthy, they probably win that one...

Gronk is no more likely to get injured in 2014 than he was in 2010 or 2011. If you weren't worried then, you shouldn't be worried now. Two completely unrelated injuries doesn't elevate his risk of future injuries. Football is just a tough sport, for TEs and DBs especially.

JR4 said:

I know they say a repaired ACL is stronger than the original. Tell that to your body.

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Adrian Peterson and countless other athletes have had torn ACLs and have had no issues with knees after.

I'd be pleasantly surprised if he's relatively healthy through the regular season into the playoffs. Should we expect him to be wearing a knee and arm brace? Like Rodney Harrison said, DBs and LBs are going to be targeting his knees. If I were them I would use him primarily in red zone situations and limit his snaps. With that said, I think they offense would be much more effective at handling his loss compared to last year with the advancement of Dobson, Thompkins, & Amendola into the offense, and the addition of Wright and LaFell.

Personally, I hope if a game is out of hand, hopefully in the Patriots favour, he is not out there taking unnecessary snaps.

Haley said:

I think we're going to see a different play book this year with a more conservative usage of Gronk during the regular season. The state of our O line will likely demand his help blocking, particularly for the run game. His days of flipping over his neck into the end zone are hopefully a thing of the past. Those expecting huge yardage and TD numbers for him this year will likely be disappointed.

That said, I really think it a stretch of the imagination to label him as injury prone just yet. Has he been a little reckless? Yes. Is he made of glass? God no.

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I hope we see more of a WR driven offense like NYG or GB.

Vereen can split out wide and Bolden and White can also be receiving options. Spread the wealth.

I wouldn't expect him to play in every game, but he might. Seems foolish to rule it out. And even if he doesn't, that could just mean he misses a couple of games in October/November , which wouldn't be so bad.

Pats fans take the cake. Listening to Sirius XM NFL radio, I'm hearing fans and mediots from around the league. To a man, on opening day, the entire NFL universe is filled with optimism and good cheer for their teams at the start of the season. Everyone is undefeated. Everyone improved their teams. Hope springs eternal.

Except in Patriots land. Where it is relentless gloom and doom. Worst O-line in the history of football. Wagers on when Gronkowski will get injured. Even the Patriots own in-house media writers giving screaming rants about problems at nearly every position on the field, including almost inexplicably, the secondary.

It must be something in the water.

C'mon Pats fans, cheer up, already! It's morning in America. It's opening day!

It's the Boston sports culture to be negative. Nurtured by generations of MLB losing, the area's fans have not had enough time to adapt to the culture of winning teams. It's also self-satisfying to regard oneself as more sophisticated and dispassionate, above the hoi polloi of less cerebral fans.

primetime said:

Other than the vast multitude of games he has missed due to injury, he is in fact quite durable.

Let's be honest, here. Gronk is injury-prone. Whether that means he will continue to be in the future is not a given - it's as much about luck as it is the way he plays - but I'm not particularly optimistic.

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Other than breaking his arm and a devastating knee injury that would have landed anyone on the IR, he never misses time. This is a guy who has gone over end over a defender and landed on his head and bounced back up. The arm could be an issue going forward, but most of his time lost throughout his career is based off that one issue.

JMC00 said:

Adrian Peterson and countless other athletes have had torn ACLs and have had no issues with knees after.

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This is True but I wonder if you did some research on injury history of NFL players if you might see
a pattern. Try Sam Bradford for starters and I believe you will find others.
By the way Sam Bradford was dealing with injuries before his 2013 ACL injury and subsequent 2014 ACL injury.
Not saying once you get a severe injury that you will definitely get another, just that there is an increased probability. IMO.
Of course non professionals don't usually get all the rehab work that pros get.

PatsFan2 said:

Rob you just don't put Gronk in the same sentence as the word *durable* that he has *not been* for a while. I don't think BB or anybody is betting the house on Gronk staying healthy.

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He has been injured a lot lately, but mostly only because of two injuries. His arm injury is what kept him out of 12 regular season games. The knee injury was the rest. It isn't like this guy is like Amendola or Edelman who has had multiple injuries. He basically has had two injuries in his NFL career (I consider the second break as part of the original injury because it was the plate that caused the second break).

JR4 said:

This is True but I wonder if you did some research on injury history of NFL players if you might see
a pattern. Try Sam Bradford for starters and I believe you will find others.
By the way Sam Bradford was dealing with injuries before his 2013 ACL injury and subsequent 2014 ACL injury.
Not saying once you get a severe injury that you will definitely get another, just that there is an increased probability. IMO.
Of course non professionals don't usually get all the rehab work that pros get.

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Bradford is the exception, not the rule. Most players with ACL tears come back and don't reinjure themselves.

Rob0729 said:

He has been injured a lot lately, but mostly only because of two injuries. His arm injury is what kept him out of 12 regular season games. The knee injury was the rest. It isn't like this guy is like Amendola or Edelman who has had multiple injuries. He basically has had two injuries in his NFL career (I consider the second break as part of the original injury because it was the plate that caused the second break).

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Rob0729 said:

Bradford is the exception, not the rule. Most players with ACL tears come back and don't reinjure themselves.

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Precisely. Had NE not rushed Gronk back on the field, he would have been completely fine by February and not had all the arm surgeries, or the reinjury, that color people's perception. The arm also had nothing whatsoever to do with Gronk's knee injury, and I read that current medical procedure has a negligible re-injury risk.

I'll buy the case that Gronk is an injury risk due to his style of play, but that isn't the crux of most arguments, nor is it all that particular to Rob.