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As Sunday approaches, it’s looking less and less likely that Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski will play on Sunday against the Saints.

Earlier this week, we (and others . . . i.e., don’t blame only us) reported that there was optimism that Gronkowski would be cleared to play for the first time since January, after breaking his arm for a second time, having multiple surgeries on the arm (due in part of infection), and then back surgery in June.

Per a league source, clearance still has not come from Dr. James Andrews, who recently became involved for the purposes of providing a new set of eyes on the scans of Gronkowski’s arm.

It’s all pointing, for now, to Gronkowski not playing on Sunday.

Meanwhile, here’s Tom Curran of CSN New England talking about the situation on PFT Live, along with an intriguing take on whether having Gronkowski available to practice the past six weeks has been a good thing, or a bad thing.

Specifically, Curran thinks it may ultimately have been a bad thing, since certain players (cough, Tom Brady, cough) are getting frustrated about the disconnect between Gronkowski’s presence on the practice field and his absence from games.

Still no clearance for Gronkowski | ProFootballTalk

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