Rob Gronkowski is healthy leading up to Super Bowl LIII, but the New England Patriots tight end reportedly dealt with a couple of painful injuries this past season.
Ian Rapoport noted Gronkowski suffered Achilles tendinitis, and then that he had a bulging disc in his back. Because of those injuries, Gronk only really got back to full health in Week 16.
According to Mike Giardi of NFL Network, the Patriots believe the TB12 training Gronk is committed to had something to do with that.
Speaking on NFL Network on Super Bowl Sunday (h/t Ryan Hannable), Giardi said, “Internally, the Patriots feel Gronkowski brought some of it on himself.” He went on to say, “The Patriots feel if he did it their way, opposed to the TB12 way, which Gronk is devoted to, maybe things would have been different.”
This is hardly the first time that Alex Guerrero — the lead trainer at Tom Brady’s TB12 facility — has been dragged into the conversation. Before the 2018 season even began, he was a central figure in the reported discord within the Patriots organization — reports that seem pretty overblown now that New England is about to play in its third straight Super Bowl.
One day, perhaps we’ll get the real story on all that’s gone on behind the scenes.