CHICAGO – The Patriots (4-2) take on the Bears (3-2) at Soldier Field without tight end Rob Gronkowski, who is dealing with a back injury. Fortunately for the Pats, they'll have the services of Julian Edelman, Chris Hogan, Sony Michel and Josh Gordon. Join The Journal's Patriots beat writer Mark Daniels for all the in-game news from Chicago.
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CHICAGO – The Patriots (4-2) take on the Bears (3-2) at Soldier Field without tight end Rob Gronkowski, who is dealing with a back injury. Fortunately for the Pats, they'll have the services of Julian Edelman, Chris Hogan, Sony Michel and Josh Gordon. Join The Journal's Patriots beat writer Mark Daniels for all the in-game news from Chicago.
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Gronk inactive
As expected, Rob Gronkowski headlines the Patriots seven inactives on Sunday.
Gronk was ruled out this morning after suffering a back injury on Friday. The Patriots came into this game against Chicago with five players ruled out - Jacob Hollister (hamstring), Marcus Cannon (concussion), Geneo Grissom (ankle) and John Simon (shoulder).
With Gronk and Hollister out, the Patriots have just one tight end – Dwayne Allen – active on this day.
The last two inactive players are Brian Schwenke and Keionta Davis. Both players are healthy scratches. With Schwenke out, Ted Karras is active and will serve as the top backup interior offensive lineman.
With Cannon out, the Patriots will start LaAdrian Waddle at right tackle. For the Bears, Khalil Mack is active after dealing with an ankle injury last week, so this matchup will be similar to last year’s game against the Oakland Raiders. Waddle started that game, when Cannon was out with an ankle injury, and played well against Mack, who finished with one sack.
Welcome to Soldier Field
Welcome to Soldier Field, where the Patriots will take on the Chicago Bears in their Week 7 matchup.
The Patriots won’t be close to full health during this contest. On Sunday morning, the Patriots ruled out Rob Gronkowski (back/ankle). On Saturday night, the team also ruled out Jacob Hollister (hamstring), Geneo Grissom (ankle) and John Simon (shoulder).
With Gronk and Hollister out, Dwayne Allen is the lone tight end on the Patriots active roster. They have tight end Stephen Anderson on their practice squad, but didn’t activate him for this game. The situation with Gronkowski has been strange.
Gronk has been dealing with an ankle injury, but has been practicing. This past week, the tight end talked with the media on Monday and Wednesday. On Friday, however, Gronk appeared on the injury report with a new back injury. He didn’t come to Chicago with the Patriots on Saturday and was downgraded to “doubtful.”
On Sunday morning, when Gronk didn’t jump on a flight from Providence or Boston to Chicago, he was officially ruled out.
This will be a storyline to watch not only on Sunday, but throughout the season. Gronk has had three back surgeries in his career. The last, in 2016, forced him to miss the entire season. That year, however, the Patriots had Martellus Bennett as a backup and were able to win the Super Bowl.
This year, the backup tight ends have provided little behind Gronkowski. Hollister has only played three games and has three catches for 35 yards. He's missed three other games due to a chest injury. Meanwhile, Allen has one catch for -4 yards. Another option for the Patriots is fullback James Develin, who has six catches for 25 yards.