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Rob Gronkowski finished Sunday night's game despite a punctured lung

Rob Gronkowski had a fairly quiet game on Sunday night, for his standards. The New England Patriots tight end had three catches for 56 yards.

Then you hear that he was playing through a punctured lung, and it doesn’t seem like that bad of a performance after all.

Gronkowski somehow stayed in the whole game with, yes, a punctured lung. NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported on the injury, and said Gronkowski might miss just one week.

Again … Gronkowski played through a punctured lung.

There was no word on when he suffered the injury, though it’s probably a good bet that it happened when Gronkowski was hit hard (and legally) by Seattle Seahawks safety Earl Thomas late in the second quarter. Gronkowski was down for just a moment but popped right up, though he was taken out for a few plays and checked for a concussion.

Apparently, you can’t spot check for a punctured lung on the sideline. Gronkowski said it was one of the hardest hits he has taken in his career.

“It was a good, clean hit,” Gronkowski said. “I have no problem with it. He hit me fair and square. It’s football. You’re going to get laid out eventually.”

That Gronkowski stayed in speaks to his toughness. It seems like he might miss a game with the injury, but it’s already pretty amazing he was able to finish Sunday’s game.

Rob Gronkowski reportedly played with a punctured lung against the Seahawks (AP)
Rob Gronkowski reportedly played with a punctured lung against the Seahawks (AP)

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Frank Schwab is the editor of Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at shutdown.corner@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!