Patriots TE Rob Gronkowski Has “Some Ligament Damage” In His Ankle

Several reports have come out since Sunday’s AFC Championship win over the Ravens that the Patriots will have TE Rob Gronkowski for the Super Bowl. However, Ian Rapoport tweets that Gronkowski suffered “some ligament damage” to his ankle and will not be 100 percent for the big game.

Patriots head coach Bill Belichick did his normal routine of limiting information that pertains to player injuries.

“We’ll see how it goes with Rob … when we get back on the field. It’s hard to gauge injuries.”

There’s little doubt that Gronkowski is the biggest mismatch for opposing defenses so having him at less than 100% could force Wes Welker and Aaron Hernandez to shoulder more of the workload against the Giants. It’s still very early so we’ll have to see how Gronkowski recovers.