The Patriots are likely to be without their top skill-position weapon Thursday night. Rob Gronkowski is not expected to suit up against the Buccaneers, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets. Ian Rapoport of NFL.com reports Gronkowski will not play.
Gronk is battling a thigh contusion, per Schefter (on Twitter), and the Patriots are expected to hold him out for their short-week assignment in Tampa Bay. The previous reports from the Pats’ south Florida stay indicated Gronkowski was set to play on a snap count, but now he’ll have a two-week break prior to New England’s Week 6 contest against the Jets in New Jersey.
This will mark the sixth straight season in which Gronkowski has missed at least one game. The All-Pro tight end missed eight regular-season games and all three Pats playoff contests last season and missed one game in each of the previous two campaigns. This injury doesn’t sound nearly as serious as the maladies that shelved Gronk in the past, so it’s likely he will return by Week 6.
The Patriots will have a chance to gauge their Dwayne Allen trade more accurately tonight. However, the former Colts tight end has not been a key part of New England’s passing game this season. Allen does not have a reception this season.
While the Patriots navigated their way to a Super Bowl title without Gronk’s services for much of last season, this will be only the second time Tom Brady‘s been without his tight end prodigy and Julian Edelman since Wes Welker‘s exit thrust Edelman to the top slot role in 2013. The other instance — an early-December 2015 game — ended in a Patriots home loss to the Eagles.
Now armed with a weaker defense, the Patriots will likely be forced to turn to their array of receivers to compensate in a reasonably big game against the Bucs.
This great player has turned in to a hindrance for this team he can never stay healthy and when he is he draws more penalties then any other TE in the game but he’s still a freak for this team