Rob Gronkowski suffered what is believed to be a punctured lung on the hit he took during Sunday night’s loss to the Seahawks, according to a report.
The Patriots tight end was smashed by Earl Thomas on a hard hit in the second quarter of the game. He ended up missing five plays before returning.
Earl Thomas with the BOOM on Gronk. pic.twitter.com/ySkzHW9aeM
— uSTADIUM (@uSTADIUM) November 14, 2016
On Monday, NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport said Gronk suffered what is believed to be a punctured lung and could miss one game, but perhaps more.
Sources: #Patriots TE Rob Gronkowski suffered what is believed to be a punctured lung on Sunday vs. #Seahawks. But could miss just one game.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) November 14, 2016
After the loss, Gronk said the hit from Thomas was probably one of the hardest he’s ever taken.
“Yeah, that was a big hit for sure — probably one of the hardest I’ve got hit in my career for sure,” Gronk said.
Gronk also said the hit was clean and fair.
“It was a good, clean hit; nothing against it. I just took it and it just knocked the wind out of me a little bit, that’s all. If you’ve ever gotten the wind knocked out of you, you know what that feels like. Just down for about a minute or two, it’s a little tough to breath, but once it comes back, you’re good.”
Gronk finished the game with three catches for 56 yards.
The Pats have upcoming games at San Francisco and then at the Jets. If Gronk needs to miss any time to recover, the team should be to compete well without him, just like they did at the start of the season.
