It's been nearly 10 months since Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski played in a meaningful football game, and despite recent reports that he's been making progress and may have even been ready to go for Sunday night's game in Atlanta, it appears he'll be out for at least another week.
 It appears Gronkowski may miss another week for the Patriots. (USA TODAY Images) |
According to a report from ESPN's John Clayton, the veteran tight end isn't expected to play on Sunday down in Atlanta, although the reasons appear to be unclear.
It's been a while for Gronkowski, who suffered a broken forearm while blocking on an extra point attempt back on November 18th, 2012 in a 59-24 victory over the Indianpolis Colts. The injury occurred during the fourth quarter with 3:59 left in the game, and led to all kinds of vitriol from fans and media who criticized the fact he was in the game at that stage of the contest.
Gronkowski did eventually return after missing the rest of the regular season, but lasted just four plays into New England's second offensive series after landing awkwardly on his surgically repaired arm during the Divisional round of the playoffs against the Texans. He reportedly suffered a second fracture on the play, which, ironically enough, occurred just below the plate that had been inserted to protect his arm to begin with.
He underwent several surgeries over the offseason as well as dealing with multiple infections, and later ended up also having back surgery in June that caused him to miss training camp. He's been working his way back ever since. There haven't been any reports of a setback, and it may simply be a case of Gronkowski not being comfortable enough yet physically to put himself back on the field.
For now it appears he'll be out for at least another week, although several reports seem to say that his bag is packed for the trip down to the Georgia Dome. If he does make the trip and if Clayton's report is correct, it looks like Gronkowski will be simply be a spectator Sunday night.
UPDATE 4:09pm ET:
According to Ben Volin of the Globe, neither Gronkowski or Danny Amendola have been completely taken off the table:
Source on Gronk and Amendola: "As of today, they are playing. But a lot of time between now and Sunday night."
— Ben Volin (@BenVolin) September 27, 2013
So there you have it. More conflicting reports, so it looks like we'll have to wait until Sunday night to find out whether or not either player will be active against the Falcons.
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