PFT: Gronk unlikely to return vs. the Bengals

[SHOWTIME15]

c'mon guys.....there was a source close to the team last week that said Gronk and Amendola were going to play against Atlanta "but anything could happen."

 

[Brady_to_Moss]

will danny play?

 

[YearbookCurfew]

I hope he returns soon. I sure miss watching him play.

 

[supafly]

c'mon guys.....there was a source close to the team last week that said Gronk and Amendola were going to play against Atlanta "but anything could happen."

And that source was Ben Volin who put himself way out on a limb by stating so, and has been shaky at best in his speculative assessments, which is often the case with reporters who should stick to reporting as much as possible; especially when they are just getting their feet wet in a new environment.

The fact that Gronkowski himself stated on Thursday that it could be "this Sunday, next Sunday, or the Sunday after that" didn't come off as extremely optimistic to me personally, so I don't think it's a shocker that Amendola's chances appear to be more positive than Gronk's this week. Hopefully we can have them both back at home next Sunday vs N.Orleans.

I don't get the impression that one week here or there is going to make much of a difference as far as recovery time goes, and that it's more of a conditioning and strength issue more than anything else. Gronk has referred to the fact that he couldn't work out all summer and was noticeably thinner. 6 weeks or so of training should help that cause tremendously. If it were a major concern to the injury/recovery time itself, I highly doubt that they would have him practicing in full pads and taking hits and tackles. They'd likely have him out and resting it.

 

[Run DMC]

I don't mind waiting for a healthy dominant Gronk. The guy needs time to build his strength. Let him get in football shape and be the dominant all pro beast we love. I don't care to see him as a shell of himself.

 

[QuantumMechanic]

Since "a shell of himself" is way, way better than anything we currently have at TE, I want him out there now, assuming there's no injury risk (beyond the "normal" injury risk of playing football) playing him now.

 

[moosekill]

I bet it will be this weekend for Gronk. I can't imagine them dropping Suds and not having Gronk ready to come back. But we shall see.

 

[Ring 6]

I don't mind waiting for a healthy dominant Gronk. The guy needs time to build his strength. Let him get in football shape and be the dominant all pro beast we love. I don't care to see him as a shell of himself.

The best way to get in football shape is to play football.

 

[JMC00]

So the only source these "insiders" are reporting is someone that is familiar with the Pats thinking.

You know what my source is? If he travels with the team or not.

 

[goheels22002]

Gronkowski currently viewed as unlikely to play on Sunday | ProFootballTalk


come on, man

At 4-0, there is no urgency to getting Gronk out there until he's 100%. The Patriots need him on the field in January.

 

[PatsFaninAZ]

I know this is going to make people mad for me to say, but at this point I don't much care if Gronk stays out a while. Until the team loses a couple, or plays in a real or de facto elimination game it just doesn't make a difference to me.

I think the team needs to learn to play with out Gronk. He is not reliable. He missed half his college career. He has missed 10 NFL games in just over 3 years. The injuries are to different parts of his body. He doesn't stay on the field and he apparently doesn't heal well. Some guys are like that. They get injured on extra points and don't heal for a year. It is what it is. Sure it can all ne explained in a hopeful way, but it is what it is.

Do I hope this is an unfortunate series of one off events? Yes. Do I love watching him play? Yes. Is the team better without him? By miles. But at this point it is not rational to expect him to come back and play 15 games without issue. It could happen. I hope it happens. I don't expect it to happen. So, he can stay out as long as necessary until we need him. The longer the better as far as I am concerned if it increases the chances of having him when it is most important. And in the meantime the team will learn to play better without him, in case they don't have him when it counts.

 

[JMC00]

So just disregard the fact that he played in 46 straight games to start his NFL career and that in hindsight maybe he shouldn't have been blocking on a PAT in a blowout?

 

[RelocatedPatFan]

I'm sure Gronk wants to play and the team wants him to play. Brady probably most of all.

The rookies are getting in some good reps and we're ahead of where I would have thought we'd be (by wins and how much they seemed to have improved). People might wonder if he should have been PUP'd to begin with, but he is getting some practice reps in and he'd while he might be available for week 6 or later, I'd say it's been worth him being around the team.

 

[RIpats88]

I know this is going to make people mad for me to say, but at this point I don't much care if Gronk stays out a while. Until the team loses a couple, or plays in a real or de facto elimination game it just doesn't make a difference to me.

I think the team needs to learn to play with out Gronk. He is not reliable. He missed half his college career. He has missed 10 NFL games in just over 3 years. The injuries are to different parts of his body. He doesn't stay on the field and he apparently doesn't heal well. Some guys are like that. They get injured on extra points and don't heal for a year. It is what it is. Sure it can all ne explained in a hopeful way, but it is what it is.

Do I hope this is an unfortunate series of one off events? Yes. Do I love watching him play? Yes. Is the team better without him? By miles. But at this point it is not rational to expect him to come back and play 15 games without issue. It could happen. I hope it happens. I don't expect it to happen. So, he can stay out as long as necessary until we need him. The longer the better as far as I am concerned if it increases the chances of having him when it is most important. And in the meantime the team will learn to play better without him, in case they don't have him when it counts.

are we going to just ignore the fact that Gronk was perfectly healthy for almost 2 1/2 seasons of his career?

ok, he broke his arm last year which is the cause of this issue of missing games...but I wouldnt call him injury prone because of that.

also, I dont see the correlation of so many posters that if Gronk comes back week 6 he is more likely to be healthy for the playoffs than if he comes back week 5

 

[JMC00]

People might wonder if he should have been PUP'd to begin with, but he is getting some practice reps in and he'd while he might be available for week 6 or later, I'd say it's been worth him being around the team.

The whole not putting him on PUP thing came down to Belichick thinking that Gronk could be back early and if not it's the 53rd roster spot that would have went to someone who would have been one of the 7 inactive players.

But according to felger the whole argument of him getting some practice reps even if he doesn't come back until around he would have come off PUP anyways is stupid because there are ways around to practice a player on PUP.

Yep Belichick is gonna risk the chance of getting punished by the league by practicing a player on PUP.

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

So we still don't know if it's the arm (I doubt it) or his back (seeming more likely to me) or some yet unspecified lack of contact readiness that is keeping Gronk off the 46.

 

[Deus Irae]

are we going to just ignore the fact that Gronk was perfectly healthy for almost 2 1/2 seasons of his career?

ok, he broke his arm last year which is the cause of this issue of missing games...but I wouldnt call him injury prone because of that.

also, I dont see the correlation of so many posters that if Gronk comes back week 6 he is more likely to be healthy for the playoffs than if he comes back week 5

He missed his final year of college ball due to injury. He missed a playoff game due to injury. He was useless in another big playoff game because of injury. He's had about 5 surgeries this offseason, and has missed the first 4 (now 5) games of this season. You can call it whatever the hell you want, but the bottom line is that he's been injury prone, whether you call it that or not.

 

[Archeryaddict12]

He missed his final year of college ball due to injury. He missed a playoff game due to injury. He was useless in another big playoff game because of injury. He's had about 5 surgeries this offseason, and has missed the first 4 (now 5) games of this season. You can call it whatever the hell you want, but the bottom line is that he's been injury prone, whether you call it that or not.

I would dismiss the Super Bowl injury from the AFCCG. There is nothing you can do from having a player land and twist your angle.

He should have never played the last playoffs. Was a recipe for disaster.

Now on the surgeries, wasn't a surgery or 2 for a infection? He has had some injuries, but he has been durable also (playing the first 46 games of his NFL career). He shouldn't have missed time this year from the back surgery but he did because of the infection, delaying the back surgery.

 

[Deus Irae]

I would dismiss the Super Bowl injury from the AFCCG. There is nothing you can do from having a player land and twist your angle...

If you start dismissing injuries, you can pretend the player's not getting injured. If you accept what happened in real life, you can't.

 

[PatsFaninAZ]

are we going to just ignore the fact that Gronk was perfectly healthy for almost 2 1/2 seasons of his career?

ok, he broke his arm last year which is the cause of this issue of missing games...but I wouldnt call him injury prone because of that.

also, I dont see the correlation of so many posters that if Gronk comes back week 6 he is more likely to be healthy for the playoffs than if he comes back week 5

I don't think I would say I'm ignoring it. I'm saying that it pales in comparison to the fact he's had a lot of injuries to a lot of different body parts. He's had multiple back surgeries, which is never good and every one of them creates more scar tissue. He's been limited or unavailable for an AFCCG and a Super Bowl in different years already in his short career. He sat out a full year in college. He has a broken bone that is taking longer to heal than it takes some people to heal from Tommy John surgery or ACL surgery. He also seems to be healing in a way that makes accurate forecasts and prognosis difficult, which is concerning.

I'm not angry at him, or anything. His body is his body. I'm saying that there does not presently seem to be any reason to put him in harm's way, and I don't mind the team learning to play without a player that may not be available when it needs him. I hope he will be. But at this point it's hard to rationally expect it. Maybe a year or two for now, we'll all have more confidence.