The Patriots are preparing to play another game without tight end Rob Gronkowski. Fortunately for them, it’s against another bad team.
Gronk is not expected to play on Sunday against the Jets, Dianna Russini of ESPN reports. It will be his second straight missed game after suffering an injury to his lung on a hard hit from Seahawks safety Earl Thomas last week.
The Patriots won without Gronkowski last week against the 49ers, and they’ll be heavily favored to beat the Jets this week as well. It’s possible that Gronkowski is healthy enough that he could play but that the Patriots figure they can beat bad teams without him and would rather have him healthy for when they need him against good teams down the stretch.
When healthy, Gronkowski has been his typically great self this season. He is leading the league in yards per catch and is tied for the league lead in catches of at least 25 yards this season.
