Patriots quarterback Tom Brady joined WEEI's Dennis and Callahan Show on Monday morning to discuss Sunday's blowout 59-24 win over the Colts. Though the Patriots won, Brady was disappointed by the news that Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski suffered a broken forearm in the fourth quarter.
"Hes such a great player," Brady said. "It sucks that he gets hurt, but its part of this game, so hes got to do his best to get back as soon as possible and weve got to go out there and win some games without him."
Gronkowski's skill set makes him irreplaceable in the Patriots offense. He leads the team with 748 yards receiving and 10 touchdowns this season, and he's proven to be a reliable blocker while dealing with nagging injuries to his back and hip.
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Still, Brady said the Patriots have to find a way to get by.
"He does a lot for us, but there's a reason why you have other guys on the roster, too," Brady said. "Visanthe Shiancoe and Daniel Fells and Aaron Hernandez and Michael Hoomanawanui, everyone's got to get in there and start trying to make up for having Gronk out.
"That's just part of it, and you've got to find ways to adjust, and no one really cares. No one cares what's going on with us. We've got to go out there and still go out there and win."
It's not known exactly how long Gronkowski will be out, but Brady said they'll have to get to work on adapting to life without their big tight end quickly. They will take on the Jets later this week on Thanksgiving night.
"We haven't got in to all that game planning," Brady said. "But our offense is . . . we have flexibility within what we do. We try to play to the strengths of our players and obviously with Gronk, as a great player for our team, we've got to make adjustments and play to the strengths of the guys in there now."
Brady knows how big another win within the division would be for New England. With or without Gronkowski, Brady is hoping the Patriots will down the Jets on Thursday.
"We beat them once, it would be a huge game to beat them twice," Brady said. "Wed have a lot of tiebreaker advantages over them if we beat them, but that was a big win for them yesterday against the Rams . . . Theyre going to give everything theyve got, theyre going to be ready to go too and they always give us their best shot, so thats what were expecting.