Rob Gronkowski on track for a Week 1 return
However, the only knock on him is recently he's barely played. He didn't get into a game until Week 7 last year, and tore his ACL not long after that. And so, the Patriots anemic offense is begging to get some production out of the Pro Bowl tight end in the 2014 season.
Fortunately, it seems like they may be getting him back a little earlier than expected.
CSNNE:
In a pre-camp, position-by-position breakdown of the team, the Patriots' official Web site says Rob Gronkowski should be ready to play in the season opener. "At this point all signs point toward Gronk being ready to go in Week 1 . . . " writes Paul Perillo in an examination of the team's tight ends. Gronk suffered a torn ACL and MCL last Dec. 8 against the Browns, and a nine-month recovery, while not unheard of, would still be faster than the normal 10- to 12-month recuperation period required for such an injury.
This would certainly be an early recovery for Gronkowski, and not a timeline we've heard reported before. Yet players like Adrian Peterson and Wes Welker have most recently had even quicker recoveries than this. With Gronk being the athletic freak that he is, it's not out of the realm of possibility that he could be slated to perhaps play a full season for the first time since 2011.
