Heading into Week 8 action against the Buffalo Bills, there has been plenty of questions surrounding the status of Pro Bowl tight end Rob Gronkowski due to a nagging back injury.

There doesn't appear to be an encouraging update on the situation to begin the week of practices of Gronkowski has missed Wednesday's practice, according to Zack Cox of NESN.

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It may not be the plan of action that the Patriots had hoped with Gronkowski to begin this week after he missed last Sunday's game against the Chicago Bears due to back spasm that flared up days prior to the game. The Patriots had initially voiced that there was a belief that he would be ready to go for this week's contest and that it would be a short-term issue.

However, the fact that he isn't practicing is likely due to the team taking the precautionary route in order to avoid any possible setbacks from occurring. If here to miss the next couple of days, it should draw the concern that he will be out for another game because of that issue. It is an area that he has previously had health issues and undergone multiple surgeries in the past, which makes these problems reasonable to expect. This may also be why the Patriots are not pushing him to be back on the field in such a short manner after that issue came about.

The Patriots were able to get by without him in Sunday's game against the Bears with wide receivers Josh Gordon and Julian Edelman stepping up along with running back James White. If he is to miss an extended period of time, New England is more than prepared with other feasible receiving options to carry the workload in his absence. This is simply something that the team will monitor closely.