Gronk Practicing Thursday 12/10

[FourierSeries]

Also, Gronk should come back when he/the team is sure that the risk of re-injury is worth the reward of him playing. I have no doubt he will be on the field in the playoffs. If he doesn't see the field before then, I have zero problem with that.

 

[Rob0729]

He clearly wasn't ready. He was favoring the arm in the game against Miami two weeks before that playoff game even took place.

But that could have been mental over physical.

 

[fgssand]

First five minutes of maz / felger (before I switched), they question what the team is doing, suspecting a show by the pats to say all is well, think something is fishy, question relationship between player and team. Dad is holding Gronk back but team says high five and welcome back as they nudge him on the field. This, of course is a scary scenario, they are rushing him back, again. Then, they question how could Zo hear he's out for a couple of weeks and then, there he is.

OK enough, I'm done........can't listen anymore. I HATE these two the most.

Ahhhhh thank goodness for Thornton, Holley and Arnold.

 

[SammyBlueCat]

He IS trying. We shall see if he travels with the team. No?

 

[PatsFan2]

Still think he sits this week. But he has to be back by next week.

If he is out of any game beyond the Texans, then we have to look at Team Gronk as being too meddlesome. If he is back by the Titans, I owe him and his dad an apology.[/Q

Wouldn't mind Gronk Playing decoy Sunday night should open things up for Amendola/Chandler.

 

[NEFAN]

My guess is to test his Knee and see what happens. We should know by tomorrow. I think it's possible to see Gronk playing decoy Sunday night if he travels with team.

 

[bbobbo]

I think the only grass fields left are in Arizona, Pittsburgh, Chicago, San Diego, and San Fran.

almost half the stadiums are still grass. if you include Lambeau and Lincoln Financial, over half are.

List of current National Football League stadiums - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Grass Stadiums

• Arrowhead Stadium (Chiefs)
• Sports Authority Field (Broncos)
• Bank of America Stadium (Panthers)
• FedEx Field (Redskins)
• Qualcomm Stadium (Chargers)
• Nissan Stadium (Titans)
• Levi's Stadium (49ers)
• Heinz Field (Steelers)
• FirstEnergy Stadium (Browns)
• EverBank Field (Jaguars)
• Raymond James Stadium (Buccaneers)
• Sun Life Stadium (Dolphins)
• University of Phoenix Stadium (Cardinals)
• Soldier Field (Bears)
• O.co Coliseum (Raiders)

interestingly, Lambeau Field (Packers) and Lincoln Financial Field (Eagles) use something called "Desso GrassMaster", which is a hybrid between natural and artificial turf. a lot of soccer pitches in the UK use it:

Desso GrassMaster - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Desso GrassMaster is a sports playing field surface composed of natural grass combined with artificial fibres. The artificial grass fibres are injected 20 centimetres (7.9 in) deep, and cover about 3% of the surface. While the grass is growing, the roots intertwine with the artificial fibres. The designers claim this anchors the field to create a solid, even structure with good drainage and 'playing comfort'.

 

[Gronkowski123]

Jeff Howe ?@jeffphowe 2m2 minutes ago
Belichick was following Gronk up and down the jogging line. He was pumped and jacked to have the tight end back on the field.

Jeff Howe ?@jeffphowe 5s5 seconds ago
Here's visual evidence from @photowilcox of Belichick walking up to give Gronk a high-5

cool photo.

would be nice to see him play against the texans if he's ready.

 

[goheels22002]

I'm not able to listen to WEEI. Did Jerry Thornton hyperventilate when he came on the air?

 

[Gronkowski123]

Wouldn't mind Gronk Playing decoy Sunday night should open things up for Amendola/Chandler.

let him play in the redzone...
opens up everything so Tom doesnt have to lock on to amendola with double coverage

 

[QuantumMechanic]

the fact that we're playing in houston bothers me.......I don't like that field

They replaced the field with FieldTurf (same as what's in Gillette) earlier this season.

 

[QuantumMechanic]

Is that why he was allowed to return to action just to break his arm again?

As I recall the articles at the time, the re-break had nothing to do with the original break but rather had to do with an incorrectly placed/sized/installed metal plate -- so he could have come back weeks and weeks later and still rebroken it exactly the same way.

 

[BradyFTW!]

You're suggesting the Patriots knowingly put him at unnecessary risk. Might as well blame Gordy too while you're at it.

Not the guy you're responding to, but might as well chime in anyway. It depends on how you define unnecessary. They put him out there knowing that he was at a significantly elevated risk of reinjury, absolutely. I think that's pretty much beyond dispute. I'm guessing that Belichick felt that was a necessary risk, just like he put Dobson out there with a damaged foot that he proceeded to rebreak and basically derail his career. The Pats' gambled with their health because they figured it was worth the risk, and the gamble didn't work out in either case.

We could debate whether or not those risks were necessary, but what isn't debatable is that team doctors (and the team itself) have interests that aren't necessarily always aligned with players'.

 

[IllegalContact]

to me the priority is maximizing the healthy bodies for the playoffs.......HFA won't matter if the offense is missing too many pieces.

my biggest concern right now is what happened to the OL......i'd rather put Vollmer back on the right side and go with what was working earlier in the year and dealing with the one potential deficiency at LT.....otherwise it seems like the entire line is a mess. I'd even go as far as putting andrews back in there

 

[SVN]

First five minutes of maz / felger (before I switched), they question what the team is doing, suspecting a show by the pats to say all is well, think something is fishy, question relationship between player and team. Dad is holding Gronk back but team says high five and welcome back as they nudge him on the field. This, of course is a scary scenario, they are rushing him back, again. Then, they question how could Zo hear he's out for a couple of weeks and then, there he is.

OK enough, I'm done........can't listen anymore. I HATE these two the most.

Ahhhhh thank goodness for Thornton, Holley and Arnold.

Team cant rush anyone back unless doctors clear him. And iam sure gronk is taking outside medical advice also.

 

[VrabelMayeWin]

As frustrated as we all are, I am disappointed that some here have the arrogance to think they know when a player should return without knowing how bad a particular injury is, whether a sprain, bone bruise or whatever. My guess is that he's out there to make Houston have to prepare for him but the fact that he is able to get out and move well does suggest he's not in bad shape and will definitely return this year. Beyond that, I am sure the doctors and the patient know best, not someone here.

 

[SVN]

to me the priority is maximizing the healthy bodies for the playoffs.......HFA won't matter if the offense is missing too many pieces.

my biggest concern right now is what happened to the OL......i'd rather put Vollmer back on the right side and go with what was working earlier in the year and dealing with the one potential deficiency at LT.....otherwise it seems like the entire line is a mess. I'd even go as far as putting andrews back in there

Line will be fine if edelman comes back at least 80-90% . See the contrast between the first drive vs giants for a TD and what we have done post edelman. Pats were in a lot of 3rd downs on that drive too but edelman+gronk allow you throw quick and make completions. Right now no one is open and line cant hold long enough. Yes they are giving up some 3-4 man pressures which is concerning , but even if they held on, 8 men covering our WR core doesnt help brady without gronk+edelman.

 

[ViperGTS]

ANY practice time is better than nothing. Probably helps keep some rust at bay.

Anything else is just pure conjecture.

 

[IllegalContact]

Line will be fine if edelman comes back at least 80-90% . See the contrast between the first drive vs giants for a TD and what we have done post edelman. Pats were in a lot of 3rd downs on that drive too but edelman+gronk allow you throw quick and make completions. Right now no one is open and line cant hold long enough. Yes they are giving up some 3-4 man pressures which is concerning , but even if they held on, 8 men covering our WR core doesnt help brady without gronk+edelman.

that's only part of it......honestly, we were running the ball better with andrews at C

 

[SVN]

that's only part of it......honestly, we were running the ball better with andrews at C

We were running well last week too with stork. Didnt run enough for some reason. Some of it must be brady changing the calls as well.