On Saturday, PFT reported that Dr. James Andrews recommended that Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski sit out Week Six’s game against the Saints because of continuing concerns about the forearm problems that have kept him out of the first five games as well.
According to a report from Ed Werder of ESPN, that’s not likely to sit well with some in the Patriots organization. Werder reports that there’s been “escalated tension” around the team about Gronkowski’s continued absence from the lineup.
Werder quotes a source as saying that Gronkowski’s created “curiosity and resentment” by going all out at practice and looking good before sitting out on Sunday and that teammates have started expressing their frustration directly to the tight end. There’s reportedly doubt among some in New England that Gronkowski could do everything he does at practice without having full clearance from doctors.
“If he’s not playing in games, he damn sure should not be doing what he is in practice,” Werder’s source said.
Assuming Gronkowski is indeed out again this week, he’ll have missed the first six weeks of the season that he would have been forced to miss if the team left him on the PUP list. Gronkowski wouldn’t have been able to practice during those six weeks had he remained on the list, but Werder’s report makes you wonder if that might have saved the tight end some headaches on top of his other injury troubles.