FOXBORO – At 1:28 of the second quarter, the Patriots matchup with the Jacksonville Jaguars looked grim. It was in that moment where it became obvious that Rob Gronkowski suffered a concussion, following a head-to-head collision with safety Barry Church.

Gronkowski looked wobbly as he stood up. When he retreated into the Patriots locker room, fans feared the worst. When Gronk come out to the field with his teammates after halftime, those fears were confirmed – the [...]

Mark Daniels

That’s when Tom Brady said offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels was forced to get creative. It was a battle, but the Patriots persevered without Gronkowski. Now, they have two weeks to see if Gronk can return for Super Bowl LII.

“Josh did such a great job of figuring out what we needed to do and how we needed to get it done It’s hard when you lose such a critical part of your team and offense,” Brady said. “Hopefully, he’s ok. It was a tough shot he took. He’s has tough as they come. Hopefully, he’ll feel better soon.”

On the hit, Brady tried to hit Gronk deep. As Church tried to break up the pass, his helmet collided with Gronkowski’s helmet and facemask.

“I just tried to dislodge the ball,” Church said. He’s a big dude and I was just trying to dislodge the ball, but I guess they felt it was too high of a hit. I hope he’s healthy. I know he didn’t come back so I hope he’s alright. It was a tough call, but you have to go with what they call. It’s the toughest play in football, if you go low for the knees you are considered a dirty player and if you go high, they throw the flag at you. It’s a bang-bang play and I was just trying to play football. I tried to lead with my shoulder.”

Gronkowski now finds himself in the concussion protocol. There’s no set timetable for injuries like this – for example, it took three weeks to return from one this season.

In order for a player to return, he has five steps. First, he’s removed from practices and team meetings while focusing on activities like stretching and balance work. He can’t leave the first phase until he returns to the baseline of signs and symptoms

In stage two, players do light aerobic exercises – around 20 minutes per day. These sessions are monitored by a trainer to see if concussion symptoms appear. Strength training is added and cardiovascular work increases in the third phase. If a player can get through that, he returns to football-specific activities. In stage five, the player has to be cleared by the team and independent neurologist before he can return to a full practice and game.