FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) Rob Gronkowski says the groin injury he suffered in New Orleans is not serious and pronounced himself as ''day to day'' regarding this week's game against the Houston Texans.
''The reports say out there that it was my groin and, yes, it is my groin,'' the oft-injured New England star tight end said Monday of the injury that caused him to leave Sunday's 36-20 Patriots victory over the Saints. ''It's nothing serious and I'm just day to day.''
Gronkowski, who missed most of the second half of last season and the Super Bowl because of back surgery, caught six passes for 116 yards and a touchdown before leaving after a third-quarter hit. He did not return and was seen on the sidelines riding the stationary bike.
''Super relieved, '' he said of the injury. ''I mean, I knew there was nothing really wrong. So I'm good.''
Asked if expects to play Sunday, Gronkowski said, ''I'm day to day. I feel good. Nothing serious.''
Gronkowski also dropped a likely touchdown pass, the second straight game he had a near-miss in the end zone. But that doesn't take away from what the team did, with Tom Brady carving up the shaky New Orleans defense with precision passing.
''As an offense we started clicking out there,'' Gronk said. ''We were clicking first quarter, second quarter, third quarter, fourth quarter and we were working well together. The ball was getting spread out or spread out to many different players and everyone was doing their job, communicating well, and it went well.''
And the quick start, including three TD passes by Brady in the first quarter for the first time in his career?
''The fast start's always important,'' he said. ''It was just good to get it, and what's good is we went all the way through the game to finish the game as an offense to close out the game.''
Asked about Brady setting the tone, Gronkowski said, ''Oh yeah, we're always feeding off Tom, but we feed off each other as a group. The tight ends feed off each other, we feed off the wide receivers. We all try to feed off each other, but it definitely starts with Tom.''
After scoring the second of Brady's three first-quarter touchdown passes, Gronkowski delivered one of his patented end zone spikes This one may well have meant more after recovering from back surgery that sidelined him for the Super Bowl run.
''It felt good,'' he said. ''It always feels good to get your first one of the year. It was just a good game overall, a good team win, and it's the right direction to be headed in.''
---
For more NFL coverage: http://www.pro32.ap.org and http://www.twitter.com/AP-NFL
