Brady’s hand, Gronkowski’s head on mend
FOXBOROUGH: In the almost twoweek runup to the Super Bowl, the New England Patriots will face plenty of questions about Tom Brady’s right hand and Rob Gronkowski’s head.
Brady answered most of the concerns about whether the hand injury would hinder him with a strong performance in New England’s AFC championship game victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Brady still has stitches in his right thumb.
He hopes to have them removed some time this week, and does not expect any issue once
Super Bowl week arrives.
‘‘And then I can just get out there and get normal treatment like I always do and be ready to go,’’ Brady said.
‘‘This was a little injury at the end of the day. I mean, I’ve had a lot worse injuries than this.’’
Gronkowski will likely spend at least part of this week going through the concussion protocol. He suffered the injury in a helmettohelmet hit from Jacksonville safety Barry Church.
The gamechanging tight end, Brady’s favourite target, missed last year’s Super Bowl run after undergoing seasonending back surgery.
‘‘He was in pretty good spirits today when I spoke to him,’’ special teams captain Matt Slater said.
Before he was injured, Gronkowski passed Dallas Clark to become the NFL’s career leader for postseason yards at the position.
If sidelined for Super Bowl, there is not much depth behind him.