Rob Gronkowski left the field late in the first half of the AFC Championship Game. Gronk was on the receiving end of a huge hit from Jaguars safety Barry Church, who hit the New England start helmet-to-helmet in breaking up a downfield pass from Tom Brady.
Will Gronk return after this helmet to helmet shot from Church? pic.twitter.com/zEECDiL1R1
— Judd Davis (@BamaJD) January 21, 2018
Gronkowski wobbled a bit as he got up, and was taken to the locker room by Patriots medical staff.
Jacksonville took another (questionable) penalty on the next play, and the Patriots ended the drive with a touchdown to cut the Jags' lead to 14-10 at halftime. The Patriots announced shortly before the start of the third quarter that Gronkowski was questionable to return to the game due to a head injury. They later downgraded him to out for the game shortly after the start of the fourth quarter.
Rob Gronkowski (head) has been downgraded to out. #JAXvsNE
— New England Patriots (@Patriots) January 21, 2018
CBS sideline reporter Tracy Wolfson, who was on the sideline near where the play occurred, stated that Gronkowski was clearly shaken up and said "wow ... wow" after taking the hit.
According to @tracywolfson (on sideline near Gronk for hit), Gronk “got up wobbly” and was saying “wow … wow” and was “just completely shaken up.”
— Will Brinson (@WillBrinson) January 21, 2018
This post will be updated if and when more information becomes available. In the meantime, you can stream the AFC Championship game by clicking here.
