Tom Brady found Rob Gronkowski seven times for 137 yards and two touchdowns on Sunday afternoon in a 59-24 thrashing of the Indianapolis Colts at Gillette Stadium. It will be the last time that Brady and Gronkowski hook up for a few weeks at least, though.
The Patriots learned that the All-Pro tight end has broken his forearm and will reportedly be out anywhere from a month to two months, meaning Brady will have to do without one of his favorite targets.
“He’s such a great player. It sucks that he gets hurt,” Brady said Monday morning on WEEI’s The Dennis and Callahan Morning Show. “But it’s part of this game. He’s got to do his best to get back as soon as possible. And we’ve got to go out there and win some games without him.”
Gronkowski, who reportedly underwent surgery on the broken forearm Monday morning, is expected to miss four-to-eight weeks with the injury he suffered on the team’s final extra point attempt.
That means that Brady, and more importantly the rest of the Patriots tight ends and receiving corps, must step up in the absence of arguably the best tight end in football.
“He does a lot for us,” Brady said “But there’s a reason why you have other guys on the roster, too. Visanthe [Shiancoe] and Daniel Fells and Aaron Hernandez and [Michael Hoomanawanui], everyone’s got to get in there and start making up for having Gronk out. That’s just part of it. You’ve got to find ways to adjust. No one really cares, no one cares what’s going on with us. We’ve got to still go out there and win.”
The Patriots won’t have much time to feel sorry for themselves, either. They’ll head to New Jersey this week to take on the Jets on Thanksgiving night, and they’ll be facing a New York team that is coming off of a win in St. Louis on Sunday.
“That’s part of the football season,” Brady said. “The Jets lose [Darrelle] Revis for the season, they lose Santonio Holmes for the season. They’ve got injuries. Every team has injuries. We’ve been dealing with them all season. We’ve still got to go out there and be able to do our job and execute.”
The good news for New England, though, is that they’re reportedly expecting to get Hernandez — who has battled an ankle sprain all season — back for the Thursday night matchup at the Meadowlands.
