Robert Kraft

Patriots owner Robert Kraft had good news about the most recent round of surgery for tight end Rob Gronkowski, telling reporters Tuesday that it was “as good a report as we could’ve hoped.”

“That made me feel good,” Kraft said when he heard the news about Gronkowski’s latest surgery. “I heard about it late afternoon, and once again had a chat late at night after our dinner meeting was over. And so, we just hope for the best.”

Gronkowski had his fourth surgery for a broken left forearm that he initially injured during the 2012 regular season and limited him down the stretch. In addition to the injury, there was also an troublesome infection issue. Despite the fact that initial reports indicate that the infection has cleared, the Patriots owner said Tuesday that he wouldn’t declare the infection is gone, because, he said, even doctors aren’t completely sure it won’t return.

Speaking at the NFL owners meetings — which saw Super Bowl L awarded to San Francisco and Super Bowl LI awarded to Houston — Kraft also expressed interest in a possible Boston/Providence Super Bowl sometime in the near future.

The Patriots owner said a good test run would be Super Bowl XLVIII, which is set for February in New Jersey.

“We would love one day to hold it here if it’s a good experience there,” Kraft told reporters. “We’re looking forward to seeing this experience in New York and New Jersey.

“Part of what it will require is political people in Boston and Providence coming together so we could really have the right number of hotel rooms and have the support,” Kraft said. “It would require cooperation from all of the political folks who would have to gather together and want this and come together, like they do in other parts of the country.”

For more Patriots news, check out weei.com/patriots.

Rob Gronkowski

Rob Gronkowski underwent another procedure on his left forearm on Monday afternoon, and according to multiple reports, the surgery was a success.

Pro Football Talk reported that the infection that had been lingering in the wake of the initial surgery was “gone,” and that the tight end had a “new plate installed” in the arm to provide support. Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network also indicated that the surgery was a success, adding “no fifth surgery on the forearm” is needed, according to a source, a point that was echoed by ESPN’s Adam Schefter.

Gronkowski suffered the initial break in a Week 11 win over the Colts, and broke his arm again in the postseason against the Texans. The 24-year-old caught 55 passes for 790 yards and 11 touchdowns in 2012.

Gronkowski will still be faced with one more medical issue this offseason, as he’s scheduled for back surgery soon for a disk problem that reportedly bothered him last year.

For more Patriots news, check out weei.com/patriots.

ESPN’s John Clayton talks about the fact that Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski is scheduled to have more surgery on his forearm Monday — his fifth surgery since 2012.

Rob Gronkowski

Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski, who was set to go to Las Vegas as part of a promotional excursion involving a jet-sharing service, will apparently not be making the trip. The company that was putting the whole shindig together involving Gronkowski has decided to call off the event.

“Relaxing” could very well be code for “preparing for another surgery,” as reports indicate that the big tight end will be going under the knife for another arm surgery this week. In addition, it’s expected that he’ll be facing back surgery in the coming weeks as well.

For more Patriots news, check out weei.com/patriots.

Rob Gronkowski. (AP)

In the wake of the news that Rob Gronkowski could be going under the knife for a back issue — in addition to his monthly series of offseason surgeries on his left forearm — here are five thoughts about what that means for him and the team, and what sort of future he might have in the NFL.

1. Back in late February, I talked with noted sports injury expert Will Carroll about the Patriots, and specifically Gronkowski’s health situation. It’s important to remember this was at the start of the offseason — before the multiple offseason arm surgeries and reported need for back surgery. (Back to a simpler time, when it was just his forearm, ankle and a disk problem in his back that were an issue.) But what he said was really interesting. He talked about how this was just part of who Gronkowski is. (Click here to listen to the entire podcast.)

“I don’t think at some point when you take a look at players, the injury-prone tag is thrown out a little too easily. But with a player like Gronkowski who has had multiple problems … 20 years from now, we’re probably going to take a little swab of their cheek at the combine and say, ‘Huh, well, looks like he just can’t handle this. He’s going to end up with these kinds of injuries. We don’t have that now — we have to do it in retrospect. To me, when we see these multiple system failures, it is something that [Dr. James Andrews] calls a ‘tissue issue.’ There’s probably some genetic issue to it. Some things can hold up better than others. Certainly, he’s talented. Certainly, he’s really, really talented. But I do think he’s going to have to deal with these injuries throughout his career. And I don’t think it’s going to be a very long one. He could have seven, eight really, good, productive years that will really help the Patriots. But they’re going to have to deal with these sorts of injuries all along that time frame.”

How much of that is in how he plays?

“I think that’s part of it. Maybe he could adjust. I don’t think he adjusts much about his life. And that’s OK. He’s very good at what he does, especially with Aaron Hernandez there. They make a very good pair, and Tom Brady knows how to use the two of them and they fit very well into that offense. I’m not sure he needs to. I’m not even sure it would make that much difference. None of these things are him wearing down. None of these things are fatigued-based injuries. These are just … some of them are football injuries, and some of them are … I just don’t think his body holds up as well as some others. And again, that’s no fault of his own. I suppose we could take a look at his parents a little bit. But there’s not much you can do with that. You have to take him for who he is, both on and off the field.”

2. Gronkowski has been dogged by injury questions all he way back to college, where he had real back problems that caused him to sit out a season while at Arizona, and that was a big reason the Patriots were able to find him in the second round in 2010. It’s absolutely absurd in retrospect, but he went 42nd overall — selected after guys like Tim Tebow, Dez Bryant and Jermaine Gresham — because in large part because teams were scared away by a terrifying injury history.

However, It’s important to remember that this issue is reportedly different than the problem he suffered in college. That was a spine issue (there was one report that he suffered from spinal stenosis, one that was roundly rejected by his agent Drew Rosenhaus), while this is a disk issue. When you talk to people around the league, there’s a distinct good news/bad news element to this: it’s good because it’s a sign that the spinal issue is not recurring, but it’s bad that it’s another area of the back he has to worry about going forward.

(In the wake of Friday’s news, it’s also worth mentioning that he’s becoming a walking ad for WebMD. In the last five years, it’s been two different back issues, multiple breaks of the left forearm and an ankle injury that limited his effectiveness in Super Bowl XLVI.)

3. The number of surgeries and injuries isn’t a knock on Gronkowski’s durability. Frankly, I’m not sure anybody, even someone his size, is equipped to play a minimum of 16 games a year while taking that level of punishment. (Of course, the off-field lifestyle doesn’t exactly help out, but that’s a column for another day.) To watch him after a game late in the season is to witness a 6-foot-6, 265-pound bruise. He takes terrific physical punishment. And it’s important to remember that pass catching is only one-half of his game: Gronkowski is one of the best blocking tight ends in the league — last season, Pro Football Focus graded him as the fourth-best run-blocking tight end in the NFL — and the level of punishment he endures while helping Sebastian Vollmer and Nate Solder hold back the likes of Cameron Wake and Von Miller also takes its toll.
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Rob Gronkowski

In an offseason filled with medical uncertainty for Rob Gronkowski, there is now news that the Patriots tight end recently underwent an MRI on his back to check on a disc issue he had dating back to last season, according to USA Today.

Gronkowski, who has reportedly had at least three surgeries on a broken left forearm — and could have two more before the start of training camp — had an MRI on his back on Thursday, according to Albert Breer of the NFL Network, and will now get a second opinion from back specialist Dr. Robert Watkins. According to Breer, at this point, surgery looks likely

One of the reasons the Patriots were able to get Gronkowski in the second round of the 2010 draft was because of his spotty injury history. The Arizona product had a serious back issue as a collegian — he missed the entire 2009 season with an spinal issue. As a result, he couldn’t perform at the combine, which likely hindered his draft status.

The back is just one small part of Gronkowski’s injury-dominated offseason. The 24-year-old suffered a broken forearm in a Week 11 win over the Colts, and later re-broke his arm in the postseason against the Texans. He will reportedly undergo a fourth surgery on the forearm next week to clear up an infection issue. If the infection hasn’t yet cleared, the NFL Network is reporting that a fifth surgery would almost certainly be needed, which would throw the start of Gronkowski’s season into serious doubt.

For more Patriots news, check out weei.com/patriots.

Rob Gronkowski

Another month, another forearm surgery for Rob Gronkowski.

According to multiple reports, Gronkowski will undergo his fourth surgery on his left forearm next week. Albert Breer of the NFL Network reports that Dr. Jesse Jupiter is set to perform the operation next week at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.

In this case, the looming surgery was anticipated because of an infection. According to ESPN, assuming the infection has cleared, next week’s procedure would replace the plate in the forearm, and from that point, the recovery time would be 10 weeks, which would be approximately the start of training camp in July. If the infection hasn’t yet cleared, the NFL Network is reporting that a fifth surgery would almost certainly be needed, which would throw the start of Gronkowski’s season into serious doubt.

Gronkowski suffered the initial break in a Week 11 win over the Colts, and later re-broke his arm in the postseason against the Texans. The 23-year-old caught 55 passes for 790 yards and 11 touchdowns for the Patriots in 2012.

For more Patriots news, check out weei.com/patriots.