Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski carted off with knee injury

Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski left Sunday night’s game against the Broncos on a cart with an apparent lower-body injury.

Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski left Sunday night’s game against the Broncos on a cart with a knee injury. He was ruled out for the rest of the game and taken to the locker room for X-rays.

A source told USA Today that the injury was not thought to be serious.

Gronkowski was injured late in the fourth quarter on a hit by Darian Stewart. Stewart’s helmet made contact with Gronkowski’s right knee as he went up high to attempt to catch a pass. 

Gronkowski tore the ACL and MCL in his right knee in Dec. 2013. The oft-injured tight end also missed significant time earlier in his career with a forearm injury and has a history of back problems. 

The Patriots were already without several key pass-catchers in Sunday’s game, with Julian Edelman and Danny Amendola both nursing injuries. Aaron Dobson was put on injured reserve earlier in the week with an ankle injury. 

- Dan Gartland