Gronkowski leaves Patriots game after bruising hit from Browns

FOXBOROUGH – Rob Gronkowski had just split two defenders and hauled in a 21-yard pass from Tom Brady that looked to be the cornerstone of another comeback victory.But then, Gronkowski absorbed a bone-rattling hit from safety T.J. Ward of the Cleveland Browns and lay on the ground, writhing in pain. He left the field after being helped onto a cart, and there went a lot of the air out of Gillette Stadium.Somehow, the Patriots got it together in time to complete another improbable comeback anyway, defeating the Browns 27-26 on a Tom Brady-to-Danny Amendola one-yard TD pass with 35 seconds left Sunday. Still, much of the talk afterward centered around the big tight end who, it is feared, suffered a torn ACL on the play.?I don?t know what the circumstances are,” said Brady, “but we?re all there with him. We love him and he?s a big part of this team. We?ll see where he?s at.?It hurts to see any of those guys go down,” Brady said. “Certainly with Gronk, and we?ve sustained some pretty big injuries this year with really important, critical players. We just have to keep bouncing back. No one feels sorry for the Patriots. I think we all feel sorry for Rob, but I don?t think anyone feels sorry for the Patriots. We?re with him. We support him.”There?s been a big emphasis on not hitting players in such a way as way as to cause concussions, and as a result, more hitting is being done from the waist down — if possible — to prevent being called for unnecessary roughness.?I don?t know about that,” said Matthew Mulligan, who was pressed into action after Gronkowski went down. “I know myself, being 275 pounds, most guys are going to hit low. That?s the way it?s always been.”?I?ve seen it all at this point,” said Brady. “They make the rules and you try to play within them. You can?t hit in the head so you?ve got to … those guys (defenders), they?re lowering their target area. It?s unfortunate to see anyone get hurt. It?s a physical game and you hate to see players get hurt.”Coach Bill Belichick, who confirmed that Gronkowski had gone to the hospital for evaluation, wouldn?t comment on the hit, or whether it was legal or a cheap shot, other than to say, “I think that?s something you?d have to take up with the league.”Gronkowski was injury-free for his first two years in the league, right up until the AFC championship game in 2012, when he sprained his ankle. Since sustaining that injury, it?s been one ailment after another. He broke his arm in 2012 not once, but twice … and missed the first six games this year recovering from surgery for both a back injury and the broken arm.The injury had one interesting byproduct. Tight end Mulligan, pressed into service after Gronkowski went down, tried to hurdle a Cleveland defender after catching a pass.?That?s never a smart move,” he said. “In my whole career, I?ve never, ever done that. I?ve always just plowed guys over. But all week watching film, I thought (the Browns defenders) would go low, go low, go low and I decided to go high?I do my own thing,” he said, “but hopefully Gronk would have been proud. I just thought maybe I would show a little athleticism.”