Patriots

Patriots Officially Rule Out Rob Gronkowski, Nate Solder & Jonathan Cooper For Week 1

September 9, 2016

Update:

The Patriots officially downgraded TE Rob Gronkowski, OT Nate Solder and G Jonathan Cooper to out for Week 1.

Rob Gronkowski, Nate Solder & Jonathan Cooper have been downgraded to out for #NEvsAZ.

— New England Patriots (@Patriots) September 10, 2016

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Courtney Fallon reports that Patriots TE Rob Gronkowski is not expected to play in Week 1’s game against the Cardinals.

This comes after a report from the Mark Daniels of the Providence Journal that Gronkowski, Nate Solder and Jonathan Cooper all did not travel to Arizona with their teammates.

Gronkowski is officially listed as “questionable” with a hamstring injury.

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Jeff Howe, citing two sources, reports that Patriots TE Rob Gronkowski is expected to play in the team’s Week 1 opener, barring a setback regarding his hamstring injury.

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Patriots TE Rob Gronkowski told reporters on Thursday that he currently isn’t 100 percent healthy after sustaining a hamstring injury last month, per Courtney Fallon.

Gronkowski mentioned that his hamstring is still bothering him, and referred to himself as “week-to-week.”

According to Ian Rapoport, Gronkowski playing in Week 1’s game against the Cardinals is “no sure thing.”

The Patriots signed Martellus Bennett after he was cut loose by the Bears, so even if Gronkowski is active, he should see a solid number of snaps this weekend.

Gronkowski, 27, is a former second-round pick of the Patriots back in 2010. He’s currently in the fifth year of his eight-year, $55.23 million contract that included $13.17 million guaranteed.

Gronkowski has outplayed this contract by a mile and is one of the most underpaid players in the NFL, especially with the new contracts signed by tight ends. He stands to make base salaries of $2.25 million (2016), $4.25 million (2017), $8 million (2018) and $9 million (2019) over the remainder of the contract.

In 2015, Gronkowski appeared in 15 games for the Patriots and caught 72 passes for 1,176 yards receiving and 11 touchdowns. Pro Football Focus had him rated as the No. 1 tight end out of 67 qualifying players.