Watch: Was Rob Gronkowski's hit a dirty play?

Senior writer

Sun, Dec 3, 2017, 10:36 PM

Well, this was ugly. Late in the New England Patriots’ 23-3 blowout of the Buffalo Bills, Pats tight end Rob Gronkowski came off the rails.

With just under five minutes remaining in the game, Bills cornerback Tre’Davious White outplayed Gronkowski and snared an interception, and then Gronk did this:

Gronkowski launched himself at White’s prone body and threw a shoulder at the back of White’s head, and got tagged with an unnecessary roughness penalty. The hit was hard enough to put White in concussion protocol, and after the game, Bills coach Sean McDermott said he was “not happy” with the hit.

Bills safety Micah Hyde left no doubt what he thought:

Bills S Micah Hyde on the Gronk play… pic.twitter.com/Bt22IRDdU3
— Kevin Duffy (@KevinRDuffy) December 3, 2017

In the postgame handshake, Patriots head coach Bill Belichick offered an apology and harsh assessment of Gronkowski’s hit to his counterpart:

Bill Belichick apologizes to Sean McDermott for the Gronk hit that gave Tre' White a concussion. Called it bull%^&*. pic.twitter.com/qfkBB9bgid
— Prescott Rossi (@PrescottRossi) December 3, 2017

Afterward, Gronkowski apologized:

Gronkowski: "First off I definitely want to apologize to No. 27. I'm not in the business of that. It was just a lot of frustration. I was just really frustrated at that moment…Just want to apologize to Tre'Davious White. I don't really believe in types of shots like that."
— Phil Perry (@PhilAPerry) December 3, 2017

We’ll see what the league office has to say about Gronkowski’s hit, but this isn’t a good look at all. At the very least, a fine is likely on the way.