Bleacher Report - Rob Gronkowski

How Concerned Should Patriots Fans Be About the Effect of Injuries on 2013?

Marc Freshman — Wed, 22 May 2013 06:44:03 -0400

Injuries in the National Football League are emotionally crushing, even during the dog days of summer.

When players' bodies aren't working properly, it clouds the future and provides a murky, unfinished image of what a team will ultimately look like.

Case in point—the New England Patriots.

They're a tough bunch to nail down right now. They've been dealing with bumps, bruises, surgeries and rehabs for months. Their fans are justifiably invested in these injuries because the fate of the 2013-14 season may hang in the balance.

For many fans, the concern begins at the top with tight end Rob Gronkowski.

The concern stretches back to 2010 when his draft profile on NFL.com highlighted "durability issues" as his weakness, referencing the three games he missed in 2008 for the University of Arizona and the back surgery which caused him to miss his 2009-10 senior season.

The Patriots weighed the issues and elected to pick him anyway.

At the end of the 2011-12 season, Gronkowski had surgery to repair an ankle injury from the AFC Championship Game. Expectations were that he'd roar into the 2012-13 season with a vengeance, but that didn't happen.

Gronkowski instead eased into last season. He was a work in progress all year, as his conditioning and improvement always felt like a week-to-week thing.

Then injuries started piling up, beginning in November against the Colts when he broke his left forearm and missed five games. In January, he re-broke his arm against the Texans in the playoffs and in February, he had surgery to clear an infection in the same arm.

As if the forearm situation wasn't enough, concern began growing about potential back surgery for the tight end following his fourth surgery on his forearm. ESPN's John Clayton addressed this issue last Monday, saying:

The New England Patriots now have to be concerned because a fifth operation for Rob Gronkowski could really throw off everything in training camp and also the start of the regular season.

Everything was expected to be going as planned, when they had the fourth surgery planned on the forearm. They knew it was a 10-week, 11-week recovery, everything was on schedule there. But now you have to throw in the disc problem and where this is going to hurt, even though he can recover in time, is it’s gonna hurt his conditioning.

He has been in great shape, that’s one thing I think that’s been very positive. But now, if it’s gonna slow down his conditioning to go with his recovery from the forearm surgery, it could throw everything back.

Nevertheless, they still anticipate he’s gonna be there for the regular season. But another surgery, particularly one to a problem he’s had before, is a concern that really worries the Patriots.

Following Gronkowski's fourth surgery on his forearm, Mike Reiss, of ESPNBoston.com, had this update on Tuesday:

There is optimism with the results of Monday's surgery. There were no signs of infection. They did take some cultures to test, and if for whatever reason there is a residual infection that is found, they feel that it can be treated with antibiotics.

The best-case scenario is that Gronkowski returns in about the ten-week time frame, although a possible surgery on a disc in his back still looms, so that can alter any projected time frame.

The worst case scenario is that Gronkowski wouldn’t be ready for the regular season.

Unfortunately, New England's injury saga extends beyond just Gronkowski.

Wide receiver Julian Edelman has been in a walking boot for a portion of the offseason whilerehabbing a foot inury which derailed his 2012-13 season. His start dates for camp are still up in the air as is any clear grasp on what his role, or health, will look like in 2013.

There were also reports that tight end Aaron Hernandez had shoulder surgery earlier in the offseason according to NFL.com and ESPN. This comes after he missed six games last season and saw a major dip in his numbers from the previous season.

Another player to monitor is wide receiver Danny Amendola, who missed five games in 2012-13 and 15 games in 2011-12. Fans will also be keeping an eye on defensive end Chandler Jones, cornerback Aqib Talib, linebacker Dane Fletcher, cornerback Ras-I Dowling and running back Stevan Ridley—all of whom were struggling with varying degrees of injuries when we last saw them in action.

For Patriots fans, concern is warranted, but remember, it's only May. There's a long way to go so it's too soon to worry about what New England's health will look like in December and into the playoffs, which is when health matters most.

Even so, with all of that time, it still might be difficult for some to balance the stress of Gronkowski's situation. It's a mess, no doubt. For those fans who are burdened by the unreliability of Gronkowski's body, it might help to readjust the expectations they have of him. The same goes for Hernandez.

Getting these tight ends at simultaneous prime health will be a matter of timing, matters of timing can't be relied upon. One should have faith, but not expectation.

If you expect perpetually injured players to be healthy, then you're doubling your anxiety level—tripling it, even. You're also setting yourself up for disappointment, so why do that?

The power of this tight end tandem is akin to capturing lightning in a bottle—let it happen as it happens while accepting the possibility that it might not happen at all.

Lowering expectations for Gronkowski and Hernandez may sting, but keep in mind that the allegiance here isn't to the two-tight end setup, it's to winning.

That's truly the Patriot way.

It's not about dedication to personalities or schemes or structures. It's about rings and banners. That's the system that owner Robert Kraft, head coach Bill Belichick and quarterback Tom Brady have built in New England and it's a good system.

A good system with nine new receivers for Brady to play with.

If the two-tight end attack is unreliable as a focal point of the offense, shake it up. Instead of fixating on how Jake Ballard, Daniel Fells and Michael Hoomanawanui can compensate for an incomplete tandem or keep a shaky blueprint afloat, think about how Aaron Dobson, Josh Boyce, Mike Jenkins, Lavelle Hawkins, Mark Harrison, Kenbrell Thompkins, T.J. Moe, Amendola and Donald Jones might go about bringing this offense back to a more reliable receiver-based focus.

Go with whatever works. As far as I'm concerned, Brady can throw it to the guys who fire the muskets. He can throw to the cheerleaders, too, if they're open and healthy—anything just so long as they win a championship this season and get this monkey off their back.

Here's the easiest way to tell whether or not you should be concerned.

Those expecting Gronkowski and Hernandez to duplicate their domination from 2011-12 and lead the march to a title in 2013-14 should be concerned. However, those fans expecting Brady and his new receivers to spark a new fire and lead the way to another championship this season with sporadic input from Gronkowski and Hernandez along the way should be very hopeful, encouraged and extremely excited.

In other regards to all of the offseason injuries, keep in mind that a team's headlines during the offseason don't necessarily indicate where it is headed. Teams like the Patriots, Giants, Ravens and Packers routinely stay quiet during the offseason, just before they win world titles.

By that rationale, it's wise to be patient with New England's offseason injuries. Things will get better. Bruises and scrapes aside, this is a good team and a contending team. Brady is New England's passport to the playoffs, but his new receivers and a revamped defense could very well be a ticket to the Super Bowl.

By that same token of taking offseason headlines with a grain of salt, it would be wise to take the Broncos' preseason bravado with that same grain. It's just noise.

Remember, it's only May. The tide has a funny way of turning in this game.

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Rob Gronkowski Has Successful Surgery on Injured Forearm

Jesse Reed — Mon, 20 May 2013 19:10:15 -0400

Rob Gronkowski and the New England Patriots received excellent news on Monday, as the star tight end underwent successful surgery on his left forearm—his fourth surgery since last year on this troublesome appendage.

As Pro Football Talk reported via Twitter, Gronkowski's left arm is now free of all infection, and he's expected to visit with Dr. Robert Watkins in three-to-four weeks about a potential back surgery:

NFL Network's Ian Rapoport believes the Patriots star could be back in time for training camp now, even if he does go through with the back surgery he's expected to have. He reports Gronkowski can rehab from both surgeries at the same time:

Nobody said playing in the NFL was easy.

Though it's by no means a slam dunk that the Patriots could enter training camp with Gronk ready and healthy, this is encouraging news. These latest reports indicate that Gronkowski could be finished with his forearm odyssey—this time for good.

One of the best players in the NFL at any position when healthy, Gronkowski will be a tremendous weapon for Tom Brady and the Patriots once again in 2013, should he fully recover in time for the new season.

A big target in the middle of the field, Gronkowski, at 6'6" and 265 pounds, has incredible hands and is adept at catching balls at their highest point.

Since joining the Patriots in 2010, Gronkowski has used these gifts to put together an amazing start to his professional football career.

In just 38 starts, he's caught 38 touchdowns, which is the most—by far—of any tight end in the league during the same time. His remarkable stats have led to a pair of Pro Bowls and one appearance on the NFL's First-Team All-Pro squad.

Certainly, having a healthy Gronkowski will be a huge key for New England's offense to have success in 2013. Thankfully, based on the most recent news, it appears he will be ready to go once the regular season begins—if not much sooner.

Follow me on Twitter @JesseReed78

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Should the New England Patriots Start Looking for a Rob Gronkowski Replacement?

Gary Davenport — Fri, 17 May 2013 18:43:40 -0400

In 2011, New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski had one of the best seasons that a tight end ever has, catching 90 passes for 1,327 yards and an eye-popping 17 touchdowns.

However, that season ended with an ankle injury that required surgery. The 2012 campaign was cut short was a broken forearm. And now, with questions swirling around both that arm injury and Gronkowski's balky back, it's looking more and more like that 2011 season may be the best we ever see from "Gronk."

The news already wasn't especially good where Gronkowski's injured forearm was concerned. As James Walker of ESPN reports, Gronkowski is now set for a fourth operation on the arm to clean out an infection. Gronkowski originally injured the arm in Week 11 last year, and re-broke it in the Patriots' playoff victory over the Houston Texans.

Now the news has gotten even worse.

According to Mike Garafalo of USA Today, an anonymous source inside the New England organization indicates that the 24-year-old recently underwent an MRI on his troublesome back and may require surgery on it as well.

Gronkowski missed his final season at Arizona due to back issues, which also caused him to miss the NFL Scouting Combine and fall to the Patriots in the second round of the 2010 NFL draft.

In fact, as Garafalo reports, at the time there was a report that Gronkowski had spinal stenosis (a narrowing of the spinal column), but Gronkowski's agent vehemently denied that claim—and that isn't believed to be the issue here.

That's of little consolation to fans of the Patriots.

When healthy, the New England duo of Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez is a matchup nightmare for opposing defenses, a pair of athletic pass-catchers at tight end who are helping to redefine how the position is played in the NFL.

Since the emergence of that duo and Jimmy Graham of the New Orleans Saints, teams across the NFL have been scrambling to find the "next" Gronkowski.

The Patriots may want to join them, as it just might be time to start looking for an insurance policy of sorts.

The reason is simple.

As talented as Gronkowski and Hernandez are, they just can't seem to stay on the field. Hernandez has yet to play a 16-game slate in three seasons, and now Gronkowski could be on the mend well into the summer.

The Patriots do have something of a fallback plan in Jake Ballard. The third-year pro started 13 games for the New York Giants in 2011, hauling in 38 passes for 604 yards and four touchdowns.

With that said, Ballard is no Gronkowski, and the 25-year-old has durability concerns of his own after missing the entire 2012 season with a torn ACL.

It's also not like the Patriots can just grab another Gronk off the rack. If tight ends like Gronkowski grew on trees, the rest of the league would have picked that tree clean by now.

Still, it's reaching a point where the Patriots seriously need to consider looking for a potential replacement option, or at least a player cut from a similar mold who can step in if needed without the Patriots having to make drastic changes to their play-calling.

As talented as Gronkowski and Hernandez are, they aren't much good to the Patriots watching from the sidelines, and the reality is one or the other (if not both) are doing just that as often as not lately.

Mind you, this isn't to say that it's Chicken Little time, or that the Patriots should start freaking out. As of today, there's no indication that Gronkowski won't be available to catch passes from Tom Brady in Week 1.

However, just because the sky isn't falling doesn't mean you shouldn't invest in an umbrella, and the more questions that stack up around Gronkowski's health, the more sense it makes for the Patriots to have a long-term Plan B in order.

Follow @IDPManor

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Rob Gronkowski Injury: Potential Back Surgery Casts Further Doubt on TE's Future

Matt Fitzgerald — Fri, 17 May 2013 18:04:23 -0400

New England Patriots superstar tight end Rob Gronkowski has battled through injuries that may have ultimately cost his team two Super Bowl trophies.

Now that he may be undergoing back surgery to repair a disc problem, the 24-year-old's NFL future seems as fragile as ever. Mike Garafolo of the USA Today reported on Friday that Gronkowski underwent an MRI to check on a disc issue in his back stemming from last season.

Back in 2009, Gronkowski had to get a different disc shaved down and missed his senior year at Arizona. That dropped him to the second round of the NFL draft where the Pats gladly took him and watched him blossom into a dynamic playmaker.

This latest revelation showed a different damaged disc, but Garafolo reports that the hope is, if surgery is necessary, the recovery period will be within the same time frame as next week's forearm procedure. If it is necessary to operate, Gronkowski will have both.

ESPN's Adam Schefter was told by a source that the back issue is considered to be minor, and someone else close to Gronkowski said it shouldn't affect him long-term:

The most concerning part about that last quote is the implication that Gronkowski himself isn't worried about the short-term.

Maybe he should be.

Far be it from me to criticize how to manage oneself in the glaring limelight of being a marquee NFL player and the scrutiny that comes with it. Gronkowski is free to do what he wants away from the field, but he's been forthcoming about his tendency to party hard.

One example of this occurred on a visit to Kansas State University in late April.

Gronkowski was there to watch his brother, Glenn, in the Wildcats' spring football game, but this image, among others, surfaced from shotofginn.com:

These are the kind of short-term decisions that Gronkowski has been making headlines with lately. Whether it's fair or not is an entirely different matter, but, again, it comes with the territory of being so willingly in the public eye.

In instances where Gronkowski's wild antics outside the white lines aren't the center of the discussion, it's his recurring pattern of physical ailments that come up. Regardless of what is causing Gronkowski to struggle staying on the field, the two can't be mutually exclusive any longer.

To be clear, Gronkowski is among the most exciting players in the league today. In fact, his honesty and transparency totally shatters the mold of the "Patriot Way" preached by New England head coach Bill Belichick.

It's refreshing to see Gronkowski show his lighter side, but that willing vulnerability off the field may be what's affecting his durability on it.

Another reason to be concerned short-term: Chances to capture the Lombardi Trophy aren't guaranteed. Who knows how much longer legendary quarterback Tom Brady will be slinging spirals Gronkowski's way?

Plus, the Miami Dolphins' revamped roster presents the Patriots with a legitimate challenge in the AFC East division.

NFL Network's Albert Breer provided his take, alluding to the six-year, $54 million contract Gronkowski signed last offseason, which is looking to be a wiser decision by the day:

Perhaps Gronkowski is right though—perhaps he shouldn't worry. There is plenty of time to recover, and based on the work he put in to build the massive, 6'6", 265-pound frame he sports, it would appear he has the chops and work ethic to get back to full strength.

Should he continue being sidelined, though, and if this second back disc problem is more serious than initially thought, concerns will linger about Gronkowski's immediate and long-term NFL future.

Here's to hoping Gronkowski does what he needs to do to get his health right. Seeing a Gronk Spike again would be a pleasant sight.

It's a celebration that perfectly encapsulates everything about him. It captures the traditional, relative non-flash of the Patriots, the immense strength Gronkowski himself possesses and the passion and unbridled enthusiasm he appears to bring to every aspect of his life.

If Gronkowski can bring that attitude to his rehabilitation with the detailed focus he practices as a member of the Patriots, his extremely promising career has a far better chance to get back on track.

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Rob Gronkowski Injury: Updates on Patriots Star's Status

Patrick Clarke — Fri, 17 May 2013 15:45:03 -0400

New England Patriots star tight end Rob Gronkowski has a busy, challenging offseason ahead of him, as his back could potentially require surgery, per Mike Garofolo of USAToday.com. The two-time Pro Bowler is also in the midst of recovering from a broken arm. Follow along for the latest on his fourth surgery.

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