Tom Bradys Rob Gronkowskis health in doubt after Patriots win

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Tom Brady's, Rob Gronkowski's health in doubt after Patriots win Published: Nov 27, 2016 at 01:46 PM Senior National Columnist EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- hopped off the riser onto his left leg, his departure from the pre s conference as closely watched as any pa s he threw Sunday. The were unimpre sive for about 53 minutes against the , but still completed the inevitable with seven sterling minutes of toughne s. Other than keeping pace with the -- read that twice -- for home-field advantage in the AFC playoffs, the most important thing to come out of this game was the landing that favored Brady's injured right knee and the slow, labored walk through the tunnel by just before the game ended. With five weeks to go in the regular season, the are very much in injury management mode now, in the busine s of determining when and to what extent to deploy their most critical players to maximize their chances in the playoffs. "It's Week 11 -- I don't think anybody is feeling fresh as a daisy," Bill Belichick said. "It's a grind. Tom has great mental toughne s." An injury to Brady's right knee kept him out of two days of practice last week and it was obvious -- until the final scoring drive, really -- that he was not right Sunday. His pa ses repeatedly sailed high over receivers' heads, perhaps because he could not fully step into his throws. The ' pa s rush didn Brad Hunt Men Jersey 't help Brady, as it overwhelmed the ' offensive line, especially early in the game. -- tying Peyton Manning for the most by an NFL quarterback -- will not be one of his most memorable, but it might be among his grittiest. He had a hitch in his step all day, but on the last scoring drive, he was, well, Brady, going 6-for-9 for 83 yards and a touchdown, including to set up the 8-yard touchdown pa s to rookie . Hogan talked later about wanting to play harder after seeing that Brady is not 100 percent -- and even Brady, usually so careful not to let on about a physical ailment, did not dismi s it this time. "I'm happy the week's over," Brady said later. "It was a long week. I think everybody is battling through different things. You just do the best you can do. It's a long season. Every week starts fresh again." But Brady was asked if he ever considered not playing on Sunday. "Nope." There were times in the game when it was fair to wonder if 70 percent of Brady was better than 100 percent of , although the last scoring drive probably answered that question. Trickier will be determining how much to push Gronkowski's return to the field. The second-most important player on the -- maybe the second-most important offensive player in the AFC -- already had meandered around the tunnel outside the pre s conference room, dre sed in gray sweats, white athletic socks and black loafers, the picture of a player who probably shouldn't have played at all. Gronkowski wanted to go through a TSA gate so he could get on the team bus before the game ended, presumably to avoid the crush of the locker room and the peering eyes of reporters and fans. But security hadn't received the manifest of players from the yet, so Gronkowski was turned away, left to make his way down a ramp to watch the last few seconds of the game. Gronkowski is still nursing a perforated lung he suffered against Seattle, which cost him the game last week against San Francisco. Keeping Gronkowski available for the playoffs has become something of an annual tradition for the , and while Matt Bartkowski Jersey the back injury that forced him from this game after he landed with a thud while reaching for an overthrown pa s , it might be painful enough to give the pause about running him out for every December game. The have endured playoff runs without Gronkowski before and the results have not been pretty -- they lost in the conference championship games without him. It is noteworthy that on the play he was injured, Gronkowski had gotten behind two defensive backs, a testament to what an extraordinary weapon he is for Brady and a reminder of what the would lose if he is hobbled. The are seasoned enough to know that the ugline s of a victory is irrelevant, but this game will give them plenty to ruminate over beyond the report from the trainer's room. The offensive line struggled to protect Brady. The defense got little pre sure, and for long stretches struggled to get a stop. Although the Pats' defense did force two turnovers, including a strip-sack that ended the ' final drive to seal the victory. Kicker mi sed a 39-yard field goal attempt, although he made three others. None of it is devastating, but all of it is concerning for a team with ambitions that stretch well beyond December. "The last seven minutes of the game, we did a lot of good things," Belichick said. "We played our best football when it counted most." Their best football was enough Sunday to beat a team whose season is already over. This next month will count the most, too, and the will have to manage it carefully. To know how they might approach it, it's worth listening to how Belichick responded when asked if he ever gave any thought to playing Garoppolo instead of Brady. "Our thoughts are to win the game," he replied. How many they can win like this in January might rest on their decisions right now. 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