If you were listening to the reports earlier in the week, you would be expecting to see New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski out on the field for today’s match up against the New Orleans Saints. However, things have changed.
The team was becoming less and less optimistic about Gronkowski’s availability as the week went on and now they are not expecting the star tight end to return this weekend.
According to an NFL source close to Pro Football Talk, Dr. James Andrews has recommended that Gronkowski not play.
The source went on to explain some frustration from the Patriots teammates towards Gronkowski because of his ability to practice but not to play. ESPN’s Ed Werder even passed along a note that some teammates have begun to question Gronkowski directly.
Gronkowski will have missed the amount of games that he would have missed if the team placed him on the physically-unable to perform list, but the good news is that he has been able to practice and get close to game shape, which he wouldn’t have been able to do if the team placed him on the PUP.