It’s bad enough the Patriots are without Tom Brady heading into Week 1, but it sounds like it’s not exactly a certainty that Jimmy Garoppolo will have Rob Gronkowski to fall back on when the Patriots take the field Sunday night in Arizona.
In fact, after Thursday, it sounds like Garoppolo could actually be without him this weekend. Gronkowski spoke to the media on Thursday and admitted that the hamstring injury he suffered earlier in camp is still bothering him and that he’s “week-to-week” at this point.
Jeff Howe of the Boston Herald reported that when asked if the veteran tight end was 100%, Gronkowski responded “I’m not.”
Are you 100 percent?
Gronk: "I'm not."
— Jeff Howe (@jeffphowe) September 8, 2016
Gronkowski was recently named a team captain and it was surprising he’d discuss his health publicly in any fashion, especially given how difficult the match-up against the Cardinals is expected to be with Tom Brady sidelined. The good news is, unlike last year, the Patriots head into this season a little better prepared at tight end for 2016, carrying a total of four talented tight players on their roster. Behind Gronkowski is Martellus Bennett, A.J. Derby and Clay Harbor, all of which certainly have the skills to be productive and can contribute if the veteran tight end still isn’t ready for action by this weekend.
Now the only question is whether he’ll play Sunday night, or if fans will have to wait until Week 2 (or longer) before they see him out there. Either way it’s not a good situation and you can bet that Belichick isn’t pleased since Cardinals coach Bruce Arians now has time to make some adjustments with Gronkowski’s status potentially in doubt.
Hopefully that won’t be the case as according to Howe, Gronkowski should be ready to go.
Right now, Rob Gronkowski (hamstring) is expected to play Sunday against the Cardinals barring an unexpected setback, per 2 sources.
— Jeff Howe (@jeffphowe) September 8, 2016
For now, we’ll just have to wait until Sunday to find out.
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Ian Logue is a Seacoast native and owner and senior writer for PatsFans.com, an independent media site covering the New England Patriots and has been running this site in one form or another since 1997.
