After injuring his hamstring, Rob Gronkowski's status with the New England Patriots still remains unknown. And, since he is expected to miss more games in the future, there's a chance that he might get cut by the team.
Gronkowski suffered the injury even before Week 1 of the 2016 NFL season kicked off, forcing him to miss the Patriots first game against the Arizona Cardinals. Although the tight end has recently been spotted practicing with the team, he is not expected to be part of the active roster for the Patriots' upcoming game on Friday when they take on the Miami Dolphins.
As noted by NFL insider Adam Schefter, aside from this week's game, it seems Gronkowski will be absent from the lineup for a couple of more weeks. Apparently, his injury could prevent him from playing for another week.
"The New England Patriots flew out to Arizona on Friday for a game this weekend," Shefter said. "They didn't bring their tight end, Rob Gronkowski. He was not well enough to make that trip, so that tells you there's a question mark about whether or not he'll be able to play this upcoming week against Miami."
"And the following week, the Patriots play a Thursday night game on a shortened week against the Houston Texans," he added. "So I think there's real questions about whether Rob Gronkowski can play the first few games of this season at this point in time."
Of course, Gronkowski's three-week absence is just an estimate of how long he'll be out. The Patriots will certainly not force him to play if he's not 100% because that could lead to a more serious injury.
If his absence extends past Tom Brady's four-game suspension, there's a chance that Gronkowski might be placed on the team's injured reserve or worse, he could end up getting released by the team. After all, he is not within the final stretch of his 6-year contract with the Patriots.
If his condition doesn't improve, the New England franchise might go ahead and waive the last remaining years on his contract and get a younger, healthier and more reliable tight end from the free agency pool.
