New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski is heading back to the operating table this offseason, this time to deal with his lingering back issue.
According to the Boston Herald, sources say Gronkowski will undergo the procedure in mid-June. That same source says the procedure will keep him out for at least the start of training camp, but expectation is that he'll be sidelined at least until late-September in the event of back surgery, which will be done in order to remove a part of disc that has caused much discomfort for majority of last season.
The surgery will be led by Dr. Robert Watkins, who performed a similar surgery on Gronkowski back in 2009 when he was attending the University of Arizona. In 2009 when he first had the procedure, Gronkowski missed the entire season with the Wildcats, which had an effect on his draft stock, dropping him to the second round of the 2010 draft.
Last season he played through most of the pain, but both he and the Patriots knew surgery was a possibility this offseason.
The remaining question now is when Gronkowski will be able to return. If he's able to make it back by the beginning of training camp, there will optimism about his availability to start in the regular season.
However, if the recovering process keeps him out until late-September like expected, the Patriots can opt to place Gronkowski on the physically unable to perform list, which means there's a possibility he'll miss the first six games of the season.
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