Since the return of Tom Brady, everything has, for the most part, seemed to run smoothly for the New England Patriots.

But after suffering an injury against the New York Jets during Week 12, tight end Rob Gronkowski will undergo surgery for a ruptured disc in his back, according to ESPN. This surgery will most likely end his season, after playing eight games with 25 catches, and three touchdowns.

This injury is coming as shock to the Patriots, as they used their only injured reserve/designated to return slot on third string quarterback Jacoby Brissett earlier in the week. They would have most definitely used this on Gronkowski if they had known he had a chance of returning this season. Unfortunately, they cannot do anything about it at this point, so they now have to look forward and figure out what is next.

Although a Gronkowski injury is an enormous hit at the Patriots offense, this is nothing new this season. According to ESPN, he has missed three games this season, and played limited roles in two other ones. The last time he played a full 16-game season was in 2011, but made through 15 in 2014 before suffering another injury.

The Patriots have made do without Gronkowski on a very short term basis, but having to make a long term plan is very unfamiliar. He has not had this serious of an injury since 2013, when he tore his ACL and MCL.

American International College senior, Jillian Bedard, describes her sad feelings about losing Gronkowski.

“He’s a huge asset to the team, and they’re definitely going to miss him,” Bedard says. “The team will have to find someone with as excellent playmaking ability as him to keep moving forward.”

Offensively, the Patriots have not had the most consistent start to the season. Not only was Brady out for the first four games, but Gronkowski suffered a hamstring injury early on in the season. Once he was ready to return, fellow tight end Martellus Bennett suffered an ankle injury. This hurt their overall game plan for this year to build an offense around those two.

Bennett has missed multiple practices due to ankle and shoulder injuries. Normally, Bennett would have missed more games to rest his injuries before playoffs, but for now, he needs to suffer through them.

The Patriots are unfortunately one injury away from having no tight end to pass to. The only other tight end, Northeastern player Matt Lengel, has only six career snaps, creating little options for the team.

The Patriots may need to shift away from an offense relying on tight ends to more wide-receiver formations, utilizing Julian Edelman, Danny Amendola and Malcolm Mitchell.

Research reported by ESPN showed that Gronkowski was the best red zone weapon in football on a per-play basis since 2006, creating a huge deficit in the offense. They have not been super aggressive in the red zone, and now need to rely more on kicker Stephen Gostkowski to step up his game. Gostowski is currently the 12th worst kicker in the league based on scoring plays, something the Patriots are probably not used to seeing.

AIC Senior, Emily Cormier, describes her thoughts on the team’s future.

“It definitely stinks not seeing Gronkowski on the field as much as previous years,” Cormier states. “The biggest thing the Patriots need to do is pull the team together and see what works most effectively and allows them to score as many touchdowns as possible.”

As much as Brady trusts the rest of the Patriots offense, he’s not the Tom Brady we all know and love without his go-to, Gronkowski. As for now, they are still the favorite to win the AFC East.

With a record of 9-2, their closest competition within the division is the 7-4 Miami Dolphins. The Patriots have been given a 97.7 percent chance of winning the division, a statistic provided by ESPN. Luckily, with five games left the team has a two-game lead, as well as needing a tie-breaker, with the Dolphins.

So what happens next? The Patriots have some wiggle room, but still have little room for major errors without Gronkowski being able to come save the day.

As for Gronkowski himself, injuries are an unavoidable part of who he is; it’s how he ended up with the Patriots in the first place. The only way to keep him truly healthy is keeping him off the field all together, an idea no one would ever like to see.