The Waiting Game

Rob Gronkowski's continued absence from the New England Patriots' lineup isn't probably as frustrating to the Patriots themselves as it is to Pats fans and fantasy football owners who drafted the tight end.

Each week, there's video of Gronkowski in full pads practicing with the Patriots and reports he's even being tackled by teammates. Yet he has not played a single down in a game, and no one seems to know when Gronk will be cleared to play. Not the Patriots coaches. Not the Patriots players. Not any NFL analyst.

The only person who can say when Gronk is ready to play in a game is Dr. James Andrews. And up till now, Andrews has not given Gronk the green light to take the field and terrorize opposing defenses.

The significance of Gronk's absence can be seen in the Patriots' offensive woes. Even though the Pats are 5-1, they rank in the lower half of the NFL in passing yards per game (228.3) and they've been limited to one or no touchdowns in two of their six games.

Fortunately for the Pats, their defense has been pretty stingy in allowing points (97), but that could change now that linebacker Jerod Mayo is out for the season. Couple that with the season-ending injury to defensive tackle Vincent Wilfork, and you have the ingredients for a major collapse.

Back to Gronk (pun unintended). If the Patriots want to win the AFC East, they'll need Gronk to get on the field ASAP and create those mismatches that Tom Brady loves to exploit. Without Gronk out there (not to mention the oft-injured Danny Amendola), Brady has to rely on the likes of Kenbrell Thompkins, Julian Edelman, Aaron Dobson and Michael Hoomanawanui. Who's Hoomanawanui? The guy who's currently playing Gronk's position, that's Hoomanawanui. Okay, I'll stop now.

In all seriousness, the Pats have to end their reliance on their defense to see them through and get back to rolling over opponents with their high-powered offense. That's not going to happen if Brady has to keep throwing to stonehands such as Thompkins and Dobson. Brady hates throwing to guys who drop his passes on a regular basis. That's why having Gronk on the field will help. Gronk has caught 71.3 percent of all the passes Brady has thrown to him over the last three years. Having him back will ease Brady's mind for, if nothing else, he can rely on Gronk to catch a clutch pass.

As for fantasy football owners who have Gronk on their roster, they just want to have a quality tight end to plug into their lineups because there are so few of them this year. Outside of Jimmy Graham, Julius Thomas, Vernon Davis and Jordan Cameron, there haven't been any tight ends who consistently score 10 or more points in standard leagues. Gronk could easily average more than 10 fantasy points per week, given his talent and the lack of other reliable downfield threats for Brady.

So, a lot of people who want to see Gronk on the field continue to play the waiting game. And there's no telling how much longer they'll have to wait.