"If he's not here, then it's obviously going to be a lot tougher on me," Hernandez said. "He draws so much attention because of how big he is, how physical, his speed. So it makes it a lot easier on me. It makes me into a better player."
Giants coach Tom Coughlin knows how important Gronkowski is to the Patriots.
"This is a player who has written the record books along the way for tight ends," he said. "Gronkowski certainly is someone Brady looks to in the red zone."
That doesn't mean the Patriots can't win with Gronkowski at less than full strength
-- or sidelined altogether.
Running back Kevin Faulk, a member of the Patriots since 1999, doesn't think that should affect them.
"One guy is not supposed to stop us. We're supposed to execute no matter what," Faulk said. "It's the game. Next guy up. You know it's been the story around here forever. Prime example is Tom Brady."
In 2008, Brady suffered a season-ending knee injury in the opener and the Patriots went 11-5 with Matt Cassel filling in.
"Tom Brady went down, everybody thought the season was dead," Faulk said. "It's the game. It's the system. It's what we do. Next guy up, somebody got hurt."
The durable Gronkowski has played in all 35 games since the Patriots drafted him in the second round out of Arizona. Belichick said he took part in just about all of this season's practices before Thursday.
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Hernandez is the only other tight end on the roster. On Thursday, the Patriots signed to the practice squad tight end Carson Butler, who spent most of the 2010 season on their practice squad and was released Sept. 2. But he wasn't seen during the 15 minutes when reporters could observe.
So Hernandez was a lonely sight, stretching and drinking Gatorade before drills began.
"A little boring," he said, "but (Gronkowski) will be out there soon."
Just like Brady was four years ago.
"I wasn't going to miss that game," he said. "I don't miss many. I certainly wasn't going to miss that one."