Rob Gronkowski won’t be available to assist Tom Brady of their matchup towards Invoice Belichick and the Patriots.
ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported on Saturday that Gronkowski won’t journey to New England, and he’ll miss the “Sunday Evening Soccer” matchup towards the Patriots.
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Schefter later adopted as much as say that he suffered a number of fractured ribs within the Buccaneers’ loss to the Rams final Sunday.
Nonetheless, it wasn’t simply fractured ribs the four-time All-Professional suffered.
As Fox’s Jay Glazer reported, the extent of Gronkowski’s accidents was worse than fractured ribs.
Gronkowksi has been off to a quick begin this season as he is hauled in 16 passes for 184 yards with 4 touchdowns. He opened the 2021 marketing campaign with back-to-back video games with two landing receptions.
Whereas all eyes might be on the return of Brady to New England, it might even have marked the primary time Gronkowski has returned to face off towards his outdated crew. He spent the primary 9 seasons of his profession underneath Belichick. He caught 521 passes with 79 touchdowns and seven,861 yards.
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The Buccaneers have loads of depth at tight finish to have the ability to exchange Gronkowski. O.J. Howard and Cameron Brate have each been standout receiving choices previously, although they’ve solely mixed for seven receptions for 75 yards this season.
Howard began his profession with two consecutive campaigns of at the very least 5 receiving touchdowns and three straight seasons with at the very least 400 receiving yards. Brate had back-to-back 500-yard receiving seasons in 2016 and 2017 in Tampa Bay. Each noticed their utilization within the passing sport diminish with Gronkowski becoming a member of Brady final season.
In his first season in Tampa Bay, Gronkowski caught 45 passes for 623 yards and 7 touchdowns.
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The Patriots thus far have been sturdy defending towards tight ends. They’re tied for an NFL-low 4 receptions and 27 receiving yards allowed to tight ends via the primary three video games of the season. General, New England has allowed the second-fewest passing yards to opponents this season at simply 479. There has solely been three passing touchdowns allowed by New England, whereas its protection has picked off 5 passes.
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