Patriots’ Rob Gronkowski running with a ‘decent but not terrible limp’
The health of Rob Gronkowski has been the top story out of training camp for the New England Patriots and the medical reports don’t figure to slow down any time soon, especially with the latest damaging report from MMQB’s Greg Bedard.
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“When players come back from ACL/MCL surgery (just seven months ago) like TE Rob Gronkowski is, there are going to be days of gains, and some not-so-good days. Maybe I caught Gronk on a bad day, but the player I saw running routes seemed far from a lock to play Week 1 against the Dolphins. He was favoring his right knee, and ran with a decent but not terrible limp. Still, 75% Gronk is better than most tight ends, especially in the red zone, so he should still be way up on your list of tight ends.”
Gronkowski, 25, was cleared by doctors three weeks ago from the surgery that ended his season prematurely last year and the Patriots have said all along that they would be cautious with the All-Pro tight end, but having him play in the regular season opener remains the goal.
The Patriots may very well elect to hold him out of any preseason games, it would be a surprise to see him play and risk injury, and he has been limited in practice and held out of contact drills.
New England doesn’t need Gronkowski healthy for mid-August, they need him healthy for 16 games this season, and he has stated its his goal to play a full schedule for the first time since his record-breaking 2011 season when he had 90 receptions for 1,327 yards and 17 touchdowns.