Rob Gronkowski on track to start in week one against Dolphins

Written by Matthew Cannata
On September 7, the Miami Dolphins will open their season at home against the New England Patriots. The matchup is going to be a good one as the Dolphins have a new offensive coordinator and no one knows what to expect from Bill Lazor. As for the Patriots, they still have Tom Brady but he is nearing the end of his career – will he continue his slow downward trend or will he rise up for one more run at a Super Bowl?

One player that will play a key role in determining who has the advantage in the game is Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski. According to all indications via Patriots.com, he looks ready to go in the season opener. This is obviously bad news for the Dolphins, as they have notoriously struggled to cover tight ends not only during head coach Joe Philbin’s era, but also during former head coach Tony Sparano’s era. With no real improvement in the linebacker corps this offseason, the Dolphins may struggle again with tight ends unless they come up with a different coverage scheme.

The one hope Dolphins fans do have is that last year, everyone was saying that Gronkowski would be ready week after week, only to have him miss roughly half the season. In addition, he has trouble staying healthy so a setback is possible during training camp, thus reducing his chances to play week one.

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