NFL Rumors: Is Rob Gronkowski injured?

New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski raised some eyebrows by sitting out practice at the team’s mandatory minicamp.

It’s a slow time for NFL news, which makes some non-stories become much bigger stories than they should be. However, when a super star player unexpectedly becomes a non-participant at practice, that always makes news, especially during said slow times.

On Tuesday, the New England Patriots were without their star tight end Rob Gronkowski as the electrifying player missed practice at the team’s mandatory minicamp.

Of course, head coach Bill Belichick was his usual chatty self when asked about the absence of one of the team’s top players as he had quick replies to reporter’s inquiries per Pro Football Talk.

"Q: Did everyone report to camp?A: I don’t know. Whoever is here is here.Q: Is there a reason why Rob Gronkowski wasn’t on the field?A: There are a lot of players that were not on the field. They were doing other things.Q: Was Rob Gronkowski expected to be there?A: All of our players are. They’re doing other things."

While the belief is that the issue with Gronk is nothing serious, the fact is the all-pro tight end has a long history of injuries. He slipped in the draft due to a serious back injury and missed significant time in 2012 and 2013 for the Pats.

Gronk has only played in a full 16 game season twice in his career, which happened to be his rookie season and second season in the league (2010-2011). While he has been fairly healthy the past two seasons, missing just one game in each, there is always fear of injury for a player who has been so unfortunate in that department.

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