Patriots dealt huge blow, as Rob Gronkowski will undergo back surgery

The AFC race just opened up in a big way.

New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski, unquestionably the best tight end in the NFL when healthy, will undergo back surgery on Friday, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network. While no timetable for his return was reported, Rapoport said it is a herniated disc and he’ll be out “several weeks.”

If the Patriots put Gronkowski on injured reserve he’ll be done for the year; the team used its one IR-designated to return move on quarterback Jacoby Brissett this week.

Gronkowski left Sunday’s game against the New York Jets with a back injury, and it was worse than anticipated. When Houston Texans defensive end J.J. Watt had surgery for a herniated disc this past summer, his best-case scenario for a return was set at eight weeks (he beat that timetable by a few days). The AFC championship game is less than eight weeks away. And there’s no guarantee the Patriots will get there without Gronkowski.

Watt had surgery on July 20 and returned to play in Week 1 of the regular season, a few days short of the eight-week mark. Watt had to undergo more surgery a few weeks later, perhaps because he returned too soon. It’s hard to expect that Gronkowski could be back in less than eight weeks, assuming he has a similar injury and surgery to Watt because of his history of back issues. He had back surgery at University of Arizona and missed a season, and another back surgery in 2013. Given how valuable Gronkowski is to the Patriots’ offense beyond this season, they won’t rush him back. So it would appear the Patriots will have to try and win the AFC without him.

Gronkowski is a unique talent – amazingly, he was leading the NFL with 21.6 yards per catch – and the Patriots won’t be able to replace everything he does, but they have another capable veteran in Martellus Bennett. But losing Gronkowski will affect the entire offense.

Nobody roots for injuries. But folks in Oakland, Pittsburgh, Kansas City, Denver and any other AFC city whose team has playoff hopes just saw their chances of getting to a Super Bowl improve.