Earl Thomas may have punctured Rob Gronkowski's lung

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – Earl Thomas sure hits hard, doesn’t he?

Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski reportedly suffered a punctured lung during New England’s loss to the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday night.

It’s not clear when he suffered the injury, but Seahawks safety Thomas delivered a serious lick to Gronkowski’s chest in the second quarter that Gronkowski later called one of the hardest hits of his career.

The injury was reported by NFL.com's Ian Rapoport.



"Yeah, that was a big hit for sure; probably one of the hardest I've got hit in my career for sure," he told CBS Sports. "(It was) by a good player; a good fast player who's like a missile."

"It was a good, clean hit; nothing against it. I just took it and it just knocked the wind out of me a little bit, that's all. If you've ever gotten the wind knocked out of you, you know what that feels like. Just down for about a minute or two, it's a little tough to breath, but once it comes back, you're good."



Thomas measures in at 5-foot-10, 202 pounds, while Gronkowski comes in at 6-foot-6, 265 pounds.

Gronkowski finished the game – meaning he played at least some of the game with the injury.

Rapoport reported that Gronkowski might miss next week’s game with the injury.