So if he doesn't play this week, is 1 or even 5 weeks rest going to make any kind of difference after all those surgeries.
I always wondered in the back on my mind, how so many surgeries can not be looked upon as a big redflag, but the fantasy community seemed to gloss over it.
Is it basically now or never with Gronk for this season,?
There was
this ominous article from back in April:
NFL Rumors: Infection Could End Career Of Patriots’ Rob GronkowskiAccording to multiple reports,
New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski will very likely need yet another surgery on his broken left arm, one that already has required three surgeries to this point. With this already devastating news, there is new fear that the infection may still need to be eradicated and, if there are still issues with the infection of the bone and plate, it could
cost Gronkowski much more than just the beginning of the 2013
NFL season.
This is according to Dr. Ben Wedro, who practices emergency medicine at Gundersen Clinic in
Wisconsin and has provided medical information for media outlets at the Olympics. He told The
Boston Herald that the
worst case scenario for Gronkowski and the Patriots could be quite dismal.
“If you have issues with reinfection of the bone and the plate, there can be long-term consequences that the bone will not heal,” said Wedro. “It may need significant time to heal. That means sometimes that they have to take the plate out, wash the wound out and let all of the infection completely resolve before they go back in and do a repair. Sometimes, you can get a chronic non-union, or non-healing, of the bone.”
Unfortunately, it gets worse.
Again, Wedro is not treating Gronkowski, so he does not have any first-hand knowledge of the injury or the exact situation as it relates to the tight end’s recovery. But he has seen similar cases before, and they do not always have a happy ending.
“If he has a wound that is chronically infected — they cannot get rid of the infection — it could stop them from having the definite operation to completely repair his arm, which means he probably would not play football,” Wedro said. “That is the worst-case scenario. I’m not saying that is going to happen, but that is the worst-case scenario.”