With Sunday's 24-20 victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars in the AFC Championship, the defending-champion New England Patriots punched their ticket to Super Bowl LII and will take on the Philadelphia Eagles. It was far from easy, as New England had to rally from a 10-point fourth quarter deficit without star tight end Rob Gronkowski, who was knocked out of the game after a helmet-to-helmet hit.

The concussion now puts Gronk's status for the Super Bowl in some doubt. But according to Jeff Howe of the Boston Herald, the Patriots are hopeful that Gronkowski will be cleared to play in a couple weeks' time.

Gronkowski suffered a concussion in the second quarter of the Patriots’ 24-20 victory against the Jacksonville Jaguars. However, the Pats are optimistic he’ll be cleared to play against the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl LII on Feb. 4 in Minneapolis, according to a Herald source.

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Despite Gronk's absence for the entire second half of the contest, Pats star quarterback Tom Brady was able to work his magic yet again as New England advanced to its 10th Super Bowl appearance in franchise history.

“(Offensive coordinator) Josh (McDaniels) did such a great job of figuring out what we needed to do and how we needed to get it done, and he made it happen,” quarterback Tom Brady said of the adjustments post-Gronkowski. “It’s hard when you lose such a critical part of your team and offense. Hopefully, he’s OK. It’s a tough shot he took. He’s as tough as they come. Hopefully, he feels better soon.”

This is now the second time that an injury to Gronk from an AFC Championship Game has lingered over to the Super Bowl. He suffered a high ankle sprain against the Baltimore Ravens in 2012 which severely limited his effectiveness in the Pats' Super Bowl loss against the New York Giants. His status going forward will be one of the biggest storylines over the next few weeks.