Gronkowski will undergo fourth surgery, but might need fifth. Ok, now I'm scared.

Well, this is bad news. Or, well, it could turn into bad news.

Patriots star tight end Rob Gronkowski broke his forearm twice last year. The first time was in November. The second time was in January. The fact that we're still talking about it isn't the best sign.

Over the weekend, Mike Reiss reported that Gronk looked "great" participating in the Patriots offseason program.

There was the report months ago that Gronk could need a fourth surgery but was putting it off hoping to avoid that. That turns out to not be the whole story.

According to the Herald, Gronk will need that fourth surgery, and needed to have it all along to switch the plate in his arm. The big thing is the infection that developed. The reason the Gronk camp put off the surgery was with the hopes that the infection would subside before he went under the knife.

Why is that such a big deal? Infection = fifth surgery. That means he might miss playing time in the beginning of the season. Also, four surgeries on one arm can't be great, five is just ridiculous. We'd have to start worrying a bit about how this will effect his performance.

Herald:

That’s a scenario no one wants to contemplate. Ultimately, Gronkowski would need more surgery and his participation for the start of the season and perhaps beyond would be in jeopardy.

But right now, doctors are giving it a little more time in hopes that when they do decide to go in to replace the plate, which should be relatively soon given the 11-week recovery period, the infection will finally be gone.