It took not one, not two, not three, but FOUR surgeries for Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski to finally be cleared of an infection on his surgically repaired left forearm. On Monday, the tight end underwent his fourth surgery and doctor’s found no sign of an infection. A promising sign that had Patriots owner Robert Kraft saying, “I hope we have him for a full season”.
Gronkowski originally broke his forearm on Nov. 18 against the Indianapolis Colts. Presumed his season was over, Gronk fought back to make a risky comeback in the Patriots divisional round playoff game against the Houston Texans. The risk turned out not to be worth the reward: a re-broke left forearm.
It was finally good news for the New England Patriots, who have endured a somewhat rocky offseason. The infection was gone from their star tight end’s forearm and would be in line to participate in training camp…hopefully.
The Pro Bowl tight end has been scheduled to meet with respected spine specialist Robert Watkins in California in a few weeks time to decide whether he needs surgery to repair a disc in his back. A similar injury to what he suffered in 2009 while attending the University of Arizona. The back injury Gronk suffered at Arizona, worried scouts enough that he fell from the first-round and fell to the Patriots in the second-round of the 2010 NFL Draft.
Just another case of injuries plaguing a vital position to the Patriots’ offensive attack.
The other tight end in New England’s dynamic duo, Aaron Hernandez also suffered a high ankle sprain and missed a good chunk of last season. The tandem of Gronkowski and Hernandez played together in only five games last season.
A startling fact considering the year before both players were named to the Pro Bowl, but that is the way of the NFL. Injuries always linger and some players just seem more susceptible than others; like Hernandez who has failed to play a full 16-game regular season since entering the league four years ago.
And it is not just Gronkowski and Hernandez who were slowed by injuries in 2012.
Daniel Fells, a free agent addition before the season, barely made a contribution in just 13 games. Fellow newcomer Jake Ballard spent the season on the Physically Unable to Perform list as he recovered from a torn ACL. The only consistent backup was Michael Hoomanawanui and even he appeared two games short of a full season.
With such an injury plagued position and head coach Bill Belichick having not drafted a tight end in last month’s draft (a rarity in the Belichick era), it will be interesting to see what this position looks like heading into the regular season. Only time will tell.
