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Tampa Bay Buccaneers tight end Rob Gronkowski is out against his former team, the New England Patriots, due to a rib injury. His injury, at first, was reported as sore ribs, but that original report has been amended a couple times now. In the latest report, Gronkowski now has four cracked ribs and a punctured lung, per FOX’s Jay Glazer.
. @RobGronkowski tells me he actually has “four cracked ribs, one broken rib and a punctured lung” which is about the only thing that would have kept him out of this game! So much more damage than was out there. @NFLonFOX
— Jay Glazer (@JayGlazer) October 3, 2021
Amazingly, Gronkowski returned to last week’s game after suffering those injuries in Week 3. Previous reports had him missing two weeks, but the severity of this injury might have him out longer. Gronk is tough, but they’ll want him healthy later in the season.
Cameron Brate is the next most-trusted tight end, while O.J. Howard continues to show flashes, but isn’t trusted enough to pass Brate on the depth chart. The Patriots have been tough on tight ends this season, so it’s probably best to wait on Brate as a start and see how their usage looks in this Week 4 matchup.