The injury that Rob Gronkowski suffered during Sunday night’s game against the Seattle Seahawks likely sounds a lot worse than it actually is.
Ian Rapoport of NFL Media initially described the injury as a “punctured lung,” which appears to be factually accurate based on numerous reports. However, former NFL team doctor David J. Chao explained on Monday that the description can be a bit misleading.
#Gronk
Punctured lung is "glass half empty" description.
Chest injury with small air leak is "glass half full"
Medical term is pneumothorax.— David J. Chao, MD (@ProFootballDoc) November 15, 2016
Rapoport later echoed those thoughts, noting that Gronkowski is expected to miss “minimal time.”
Also described to me as a perforated lung. A small puncture. Prognosis the same. Miss minimal time https://t.co/2JHWF4R3QT
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) November 15, 2016
You can see a video of the vicious hit that led to the injury here.
The Patriots have always played it safe with Gronkowski, as he has been injury prone throughout his career and is the most important player on the team’s offense not named Tom Brady. With games upcoming against the San Francisco 49ers, New York Jets and Los Angeles Rams (teams with a combined record of 8-20), we wouldn’t be surprised to see Gronk miss at least two games.
