The New England Patriots are coming off of their first loss of the season after dropping last weeks game to the Cincinnati Bengals and with that came the end of Tom Brady's 50-game touchdown pass streak, making the absence of Rob Gronkowski even more felt and it appears that will happen again on Sunday.
Gronkowski was thought to be ready for last week against the Bengals after practicing with the team, but he was not cleared to play and ESPN.com reports that he liekly will not be playing against the Saints in Week 6. Gronkowski is coming off back and forearm surgery and he was expected to miss the first chunk of the season and now he likely will be out for the first six weeks and possibly more. Brady's streak ended last week against the Bengals and the team has been struggling on offense in the red zone and on third downs and those are two areas where Gronkowski excels.
The way it appears now, Gronkowski will be a player to watch on Sunday, as the Patriots play in the late afternoon game and fantasy owners that are worried should check out replacement options in the waiver market, including names like Jordan Reed and Graham Garrett. The Houston Texans will be using Garrett more going forward with Owen Daniels going down and while he is coming off a game where he had just three catches, that was before Daniels went down and with Matt Schaub struggling, the offense should be targeting the tight end position quite a bit.
Over the past two weeks, Garrett has been targeted 11 times and has made eight catches with one touchdown and he could be a solid red zone threat for the team. The Washington Redskins are coming off of a bye week and while Jordan Reed was dealing with a thigh injury, he appears ready to play after practicing on Wednesday and he could be a solid option with Logan Paulsen listed as questionable for the game on Sunday. This season Reed has only played in three games, but he made 13 catches for over 100 yards and he also has one touchdown reception.
There is a slight chance that Gronkowski could play on Sunday, but the news is not optimistic and that does not bode well for fantasy owners looking for him to start. Gronkowski will be a prime starting option when he returns and the Patriots will be looking forward to that day.