Patriots
tight end Gronkowski out for season
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[December 10, 2013]
(Reuters) — New England Patriots
tight end Rob Gronkowski will miss the rest of the season after tests on
Monday showed he had a torn ligaments in his right knee during Sunday's
win against the Browns, official website nfl.com reported.
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Gronkowski, one of the most dynamic tight ends in the National
Football League, will be placed on season-ending injured reserve and
undergo additional tests to check for further damage, the website
said.
The loss of Gronkowski is a big blow to the offense of the Patriots,
the AFC East leaders who improved to 10-3 with their 27-26 come from
behind victory over Cleveland and are in the hunt for the second
seed position in the conference playoffs.
Two-time Pro Bowler Gronkowski, 24, was injured after he caught a
third-quarter pass from quarterback Tom Brady and was downed on a
diving tackle by Browns defensive back T.J. Ward, whose helmet
appeared to hit Gronkowski directly on the knee.
Gronkowski was carted off the field.
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"We love him, he's a big part of this team," Brady said about
Gronkowski.
"It hurts to see any of those guys go down, so certainly with
Gronk and we've sustained some pretty big injuries this year
with really important, critical players. So we've just got to
keep bouncing back."
"I think we all feel sorry for Rob," added Brady. "We're with
him and we support him."
Gronkowski missed the first six games of the season as he
recovered from offseason surgeries on his arm and back that
ended his 2012 season early. He had 39 receptions for 592 yards
and four touchdowns in seven games this year.
(Reporting by Larry Fine in New York;
editing by Justin Palmer)
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