Rob Gronkowski's back injury is worse than initially anticipated and the star tight end is reportedly slated to have back surgery on Friday:
Gronkowski, Brady's top weapon, has missed a chunk of the season with a hamstring injury. His latest injury is devastating to the Patriots, but only increases the reliance on tight end Martellus Bennett and wideout Malcolm Mitchell:
Here's where Gronk suffered the lung injury, and possibly the back injury:
Over his career, Gronk has suffered a fractured vertebra, broken forearm, torn ACL, sprained ankle and back strain. Arguably the best tight end in NFL history is probably one of the more injury-prone as well.
