The New England Patriots have already wrapped up the AFC division title, but the defending conference champions might be without one of its biggest playmakers as they enter the playoffs.
Tight end Rob Gronkowski, who has missed the past five games with a broken left forearm, said on Wednesday he has yet to be cleared by team doctors and that he can't get back on the field until the medical staff does so.
"When the doctors clear me, when the training staff clears me, when I'm medically ready to play and they let me play, I'm sure that's when I'll be out there," Gronkowski said to ESPNBoston.com.
Wednesday was the first time that Gronkowski has spoken to reporters since being injured. The tight end suffered the broken forearm with less than four minutes left in the fourth quarter of the Patriots' 59-24 win against the Indianapolis Colts on Nov. 18.
Gronkowski had surgery the following day and returned to practice on Dec. 14. Her has been listed as questionable on the team's injury report over the past two weeks, but was inactive for both games.
"Basically, the doctors know what they're talking about. They'll know when it's safe and sound and ready to go," Gronkowski said. "I'm going to trust in them, and when they say so, I'm anxious to get out there, so obviously I want to go."
Gronkowski has been healthy for his entire career up to this point, never missing a single game before being injured against the Colts. He dealt with an ankle injury in the Super Bowl last season, but played through the pain against the Giants. This season he has also been dealing with a nagging hip injury.
"Yes, definitely making progress," Gronkowski said to Boston.com. "Every single week I'm feeling better, doing better every day. I'm working with the trainers, whatever they have me doing, just every day trying to improve on the day before."
Patriots coach Bill Belichick spoke about the injury and said that the tight end was being looked at on a day-to-day basis.
"We'll see how it is," Belichick said. "He's moving along, (but he's) not ready yet. We'll take it day to day and see how it goes."
Belichick was also asked about getting Gronkowski back on the field for some snaps on Sunday against the Dolphins to help get him ready for the playoffs.
"I think those are decisions really that are made medically," he said. "If the players are able to play, then we play them. If they're not, then we don't. It's the same for every player, we treat them all the same. There's nothing more important than the players' health and safety, so when they're cleared to play, then we make playing decisions. If they're not cleared to play, then there's no decision to make. And I don't think that's a decision that a coach makes or influences; those are medical decisions if it's a medical situation. Once it's a competitive decision, then that's a coaching decision. If it's a medical decision, then it's made by medical people."
For the Patriots to be successful down the stretch they will need Gronkowski back in the lineup. Luckily for New England, when Gronkowski went down, injured tight end Aaron Hernandez was just getting back to full health, meaning they have played all season with at least one of those playmakers at the position.
Gronkowski has 53 receptions for 748 yards and league-leading 10 touchdowns despite playing in just 10 games. Despite missing that time, Gronkowski was named to the Pro Bowl on Wednesday for the second time in his career.
In the last game before he got hurt, the tight end had seven receptions for 137 yards and two touchdowns. Last season he set a position record with 17 touchdowns to go along with 90 receptions for 1,327 yards.
The Patriots have gone 4-1 without Gronkowski, but are much more dangerous with him in the lineup. Hernandez has made 46 catches for 439 yards and five touchdowns while playing in nine games, but it is Gronkowski who truly makes Brady and the offense hum along soundly.
The return of Gronkowski will help the Patriots on third down, which is one area where they have struggled over the past two weeks against the San Francisco 49ers and the Jacksonville Jaguars., going a combined 6-for-27 (22 percent) in third-down efficiency. Gronkowski will also help Brady with pass blocking and in the redzone, where the two have connected for eight of his 10 touchdowns.
Belichick and Brady have turned Gronkowski into the most dominating tight end in football and have put him on pace to obliterate every record for the position. According to ESPN Stats & Information, he has 37 touchdowns in his career, which are "the third-most by any player in his first three seasons in NFL history. Only Randy Moss (43) and Jerry Rice (40) had more."
Without Gronkowski, the Patriots can't lineup with two tight end sets as much, leaving Brady and the running game slightly vulnerable. In the last four games Gronkowski has played in, he has made 33 catches for 392 yards and seven touchdowns. His biggest game of the year came in a 45-7 win over the Rams in which he had eight catches for 146 yards and two touchdowns.
The Patriots offense has been one of the most efficient in the NFL and is averaging a league-leading 35 points and 426 total yards per game. The offense hasn't taken much of a hit without Gronkowski, but once the calendar turns to the playoffs, the Patriots will be desperate to have him back on the field.
