NFL

Both Mike Garafolo of USA Today and NFL Network's Ian Rapoport report Gronk's timeline is 4-6 weeks. Although they are different kinds of players, the loss of Gronkowski may force the Patriots to act with more urgency on Aaron Hernandez (ankle), who's been practicing the past two weeks but has not played in games. Gronkowski is such a valuable player to New England's offense that he figures to be kept on the roster, rather than placed on injured reserve, in hopes of a very late-season or postseason return. It's obviously a crushing blow to fantasy owners, as well. Gronkowski was the No. 1 overall fantasy tight end through ten games.