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ESPN Staff Writer- Mike Reiss is an NFL reporter at ESPN and covers the New England Patriots. Reiss has covered the Patriots since 1997 and joined ESPN in 2009. In 2019, he was named Massachusetts Sportswriter of the Year by the National Sports Media Association.
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski spent part of Thursday in a Boston hospital getting treatment on his injured right knee, which included an injection, according to a source familiar with the procedure.
The Patriots believe Gronkowski will play in Saturday's divisional-round playoff game against the visiting Kansas City Chiefs but will ultimately need to see how Gronkowski feels on game day.
The Patriots practiced Thursday afternoon inside Gillette Stadium. Before practice, coach Bill Belichick was asked about his level of concern regarding Gronkowski and said, "We'll list the players after practice like we do every day."
On the official Patriots practice report Thursday night, Gronkowski was listed with knee and back injuries.
Gronkowski practiced Monday, was held out of the Patriots' full-pads practice Tuesday and was listed as a limited participant Wednesday.
He sustained a bruise/strain of his right knee Nov. 29 against the Denver Broncos then missed the Dec. 6 game against the Philadelphia Eagles. He returned Dec. 13 against the Houston Texans before he was removed from the team's injury report the next week.
The first-team All-Pro played 55 of 60 snaps in the regular-season finale against the Miami Dolphins.
Linebacker Jonathan Freeny (hand) and guard Tre' Jackson (knee) were the other two Patriots not spotted at Thursday's in-stadium practice.
