According to the Boston Herald, the procedure is going to remove the metal plate that’s securing the broken bone in the forearm. The main problem right now is there is currently an infection in his arm, which is delaying the surgery as he is completing a six-week antibiotic regimen to eradicate the infection.

The metal plate in Gronkowski’s arm needs to be replaced and the recovery time is 11 weeks. Were he to have surgery today that rehab regimen would take him to the start of training camp, so it’s clear that Patriots doctors believe they have a bit of time to work with.

However, knowing the Bills open the season against the Patriots, monitoring Gronkowski’s health is something Buffalo’s coaching staff will undoubtedly be keeping a close eye on through the summer.

Clark told ESPN NFL Live the following.

“In 2010, we saw it start with the Jets in the playoffs,” he said. “When Tom Brady gets pressure and when you’re man-to-man and bumping those guys and making it hard for him to throw, he sees ghosts.

“Even when guys aren’t around him, even when he’s not about to be sacked, when his clock goes off in his head that the ball should be out, we’ll see him duck, we’ll see him flinch. When you get Tom Brady doing that, the whole New England Patriots mystique goes away.”

Everyone knows that the Patriots offense is based largely on timing. That’s why it’s little surprise, as ESPN AFC East blogger James Walker points out, Brady’s completion percentage drops from 68.2 percent to 42.3 percent when he holds onto the ball three seconds or longer.

What’s most encouraging is Clark references the Jets approach in the 2010 playoffs. That approach was largely drawn up by Bills current defensive coordinator Mike Pettine.

Add in the fact that Wes Welker is gone and Rob Gronkowski coming off the arm injury and the season opener at Ralph Wilson Stadium on Sept. 8th could be a very interesting matchup.

Total net yards – BUF – 481 – NE 347
Average gain per play – BUF – 6.8 – NE 5.1
Third down efficiency – BUF – (7-11, 64%) – NE – (7-12, 58%)
Rushing yards – BUF – 162 – NE 117
Passing yards – BUF – 319 – NE 230
Goal to go efficiency – BUF – (3-3, 100%) – NE (2-3, 66%)
Time of possession – BUF – 33:50 – NE 26:10

“Offensively, that’s the kind of team and the kind of game plan and the stuff that we want to do. We got our guys the touches,” said Ryan Fitzpatrick, who had his fourth straight 300-yard passing game against New England. “We got some play action throws with the way they were playing downfield a little bit. Got Scott involved, Stevie involved, Donald did some good stuff. We’ve just got to find a way to pull it out at the end.”

“The stats only mean something when you win,” said Stevie Johnson. “Right now, we’re at the point where it doesn’t matter if you put up a thousand yards,  if you get a loss, it doesn’t really matter. We’d  rather get the wins instead of statistical victories.”

“Definitely frustrating losing to a team we feel like we can beat,” said Nick Barnett. “They’re a good team give them all the credit they make the plays and Brady is a heck of a quarterback, but we know we can beat them and we feel like we can. We’ve done it before and came very close today and should’ve had it. It’s definitely frustrating.”

“This is definitely tough to take, we work hard and it is the same old stuff each week, but we came back in this game. We had a chance to win it and we fell short again,” said Stevie Johnson. “We can’t do anything about it but put it behind us and look forward to the Miami Dolphins on Thursday night.”

“It really gets old. It gets old and we just have to finish,” said Jairus Byrd. “It means we didn’t do our job. We came out in the first half and the penalties hurt us, and then when they get in to the red zone it is a short field for them. We should have held them to field goals but they were putting points on the board, touchdowns. This is getting old at some point this has to change.”

“You turn it over at the one and you turn it over on our half of the field, they get a short touchdown out of it. We can’t turn it over,” said head coach Chan Gailey. “We are not good enough yet to not play extremely well and win. We’ve got to play extremely well to win. We’re not there yet. There are some other teams that can do that. We’re not. We’re not one of those teams. We are capable of getting there, but we have not gotten there and it’s my job to get us there. We can’t turn it over three times and win ball games most of the time.”

While the first turnover led directly to a Patriots touchdown the other took unquestionably took points off the board for Buffalo. Fred Jackson’s fumble at the one-yard line likely removes seven points and the interception at the end likely takes away seven as well, in what winds up being a six-point game.

“They killed us,” said C.J. Spiller. “3^rd-and-20, 3^rd-and-15, I mean the chances of completing that are very slim, to none. We inflicted ourselves with that stuff and it’s just something we’ve got to straighten up.  Somethings got to be done, because you’re not going to win too many third downs when you’re behind the chains like that. That was pretty much one of our biggest goals, to get better on third downs this week.”

But Buffalo was very good on third downs going 7-11 (64%). The main issue is how lopsided the calls were in the first half when the count was 10 for 119 yards for Buffalo and twpp for just 30 yards for the Patriots.

“The penalties were terrible,” said Eric Wood. “And we started off the game rough  up front. I think we got our feet set and we came back. Sometimes that’s just the way the game goes. I got a holding call that, I’ve probably had that block fifty times this year, where you accelerate your feet at the end with your hands inside.  That’s a not a hold in this league. Without watching it, I’m sure I tugged him a little bit, and Vince (Wilfork) probably flailed his arms, but early on, that just felt like that was how the game was going.”

“That’s just something you got to play through. It’s not really in our hands.  The refs make certain calls, and there’s nothing really you can do about it. We can’t complain. We’ve just got to play through it. For the most part we did a good job doing that, but we just didn’t come away with the victory.”    

The Patriots finished with seven penalties for 73 yards, still half of Buffalo’s final total.

“The ace in the hole for us is Spencer Johnson,” said head coach Chan Gailey. ”He’s been able to play defensive end. He played it last year. He can go out there and play there if we need him to. That’s kind of our ace in the hole for the defensive line and defensive end position specifically.”

If Kelsay can’t play, Buffalo would only have three defensive ends in Kyle Moore, Shawne Merriman and Mario Williams. Johnson would give them a fourth option to rotate.

Through eight games New England has run 613 plays for an average of 76.6 per game. Only three other NFL teams average 70 or more (Phil. 70.5, Ind. 70.8, Det. 72). All those plays mean more time on the field for opposing defenses, and that has an impact on what players coaches choose to dress for a Sunday game against New England, knowing they might need a few more defensive players to rotate in.

“It affects those decisions a great deal,” said Bills head coach Chan Gailey. ”You have to make sure you have enough so you can rotate players because they are going to run a lot of plays. The best way to counteract that though is for your offense to keep the football. If we can have a little bit of ball control in this game it’ll help us a lot.”

Buffalo managed just 98 rushing yards in the first meeting, but Fred Jackson was not 100 percent healthy in his return from an LCL knee injury. We’ll see if Jackson and C.J. Spiller can deliver a better ball control attack in an effort to limit the number of plays for New England’s offense.

Late Saturday ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported that Hernandez was unlikely to play today against the Bills. This morning NFL Network’s Albert Breer reporting from Gillette Stadium went a step further reporting on NFL AM that Hernandez “will not play today.”

Hernandez has dealt with a high ankle sprain for most of the season and re-aggravated it when he tried to return too early from the injury a few weeks ago. The athletic TE missed the first meeting with the Bills back in Week 4.

“I think Chan does a good job offensively, he gives you a lot of things to prepare for. They’ve used different players on the Wildcat as well and their Pistol [with] the back behind the quarterback in the shotgun – he has a lot of different packages. He has a lot of personnel groups and formations,” said Belichick. ”A combination of all of that wears on you defensively in terms of preparation. You have to get ready for all of it and he does a real good job of game planning that, keeping you off balance, making you defend a lot of things so that you can’t concentrate on just a few things. They go in and out of that.

“Chan does a real good job with his offensive game plan and utilization of personnel. It’s one of the toughest games that we have to prepare for. They definitely know what they’re doing and they do it well.” 

Shiancoe, 32, signed with the Patriots as a free agent right before training camp. The 6-foot-4, 250-pound TE is a veteran of nine seasons with the New York Giants (2003-06) and Minnesota Vikings (2007-11).

With TE Aaron Hernandez still questionable as he tries to return from a persistent ankle injury, one wonders if the Shiancoe activation is an indication that Hernandez won’t play Sunday against the Bills. Hernandez missed the Patriots Week 4 meeting with the Bills due to the same ankle injury. Hernandez practiced on a limited basis all week.

Shiancoe is taking the roster spot of RB Brandon Bolden, who was suspended for four games late Friday by the NFL for violation of the league’s substance abuse policy. Bolden was already declared out for Sunday’s game due to a knee injury.

“I think if you don’t carry that approach after the last two times we’ve played this team, you’re pretty dumb to be honest with you,” Chan Gailey told Buffalobills.com in his weekly conversation. ”You’ve got to understand that. This is not a team that’s going to quit, that’s going to lay down when they’re behind. You have to go finish the game. So if you don’t recognize that being a football player and being around for the last two years something is wrong.”

Here’s a closer look at the Bills in the fourth quarter against the Patriots and in the fourth quarter this season.

“If we don’t give up big plays, the defense can be very, very good,” he said in a conference call with Buffalo media. ”That’s one of the things we have to get better at – stop giving up big plays and stop hurting ourselves. And like I said, they’re a team that can strike from anywhere on the field – in the air and on the ground. We have to do a better job of that this time around because that game was close. We got a couple turnovers in that game that basically led to points on our end. But without those turnovers, you’re looking at a different ballgame so we definitely have to minimize the big plays on our defense.”

Buffalo had seven pass plays of 20 yards or more in the first meeting with four of those plays going for touchdowns (Donald Jones – 68 yds, Brad Smith 35 yds, Scott Chandler (2) 22, 24 yds).

OUT
RB Brandon Bolden – knee
DE Trevor Scott – hamstring
LB Tracy White – foot

QUESTIONABLE
CB Kyle Arrington – concussion
DT Ron Brace – elbow
S Patrick Chung – shoulder/hamstring
S Steve Gregory – hip
TE Rob Gronkowski – hip
TE Aaron Hernandez – ankle
LB Dont’a Hightower – hamstring
WR Brandon Lloyd – knee
G Logan Mankins – calf/hip
LB Jerod Mayo – elbow
OL Nick McDonald – shoulder
LB Brandon Spikes – knee
OT Sebastian Vollmer – back/knee
WR Wes Welker – ankle

PROBABLE
WR Julian Edelman – hand
DT Kyle Love – knee

Bolden hasn’t played since the Patriots’ Week 6 game against Seattle when he was injured on a kickoff play. He didn’t practice at all this week. Bolden had 137 yards rushing and a touchdown against the Bills in the Week 4 meeting.

The rushing load Sunday for the Patriots will fall mainly on Stevan Ridley, who also went over the century mark against Buffalo the last time. Danny Woodhead and Shane Vereen will be the complementary backs for New England.

Not much has changed. All the players that sat out Wednesday also sat out Thursday, and all the limited practice participants Wednesday were again limited on Thursday.

Did not practice
RB Brandon Bolden – knee
DE Trevor Scott – hamstring
LB Tracy White – foot

Limited in practice
CB Kyle Arrington – concussion
DT Ron Brace – elbow
S Patrick Chung – shoulder
S Steve Gregory – hip
TE Rob Gronkowski – hip
TE Aaron Hernandez – ankle
LB Dont’a Hightower – hamstring
WR Brandon Lloyd – knee
G Logan Mankins – calf/hip
LB Jerod Mayo – elbow
OL Nick McDonald – shoulder
LB Brandon Spikes – knee
OT Sebastian Vollmer – back/knee
WR Wes Welker – ankle

Bolden was one of the two 100-yard rushers in New England’s first meeting with the Bills back in Week 4, rolling up 137 yards on just 16 carries including a touchdown. He averaged 8.6 per carry.

It’s looking less and less likely that Bolden will play Sunday, meaning that change of pace backs Danny Woodhead and Shane Vereen will see more time behind starter Stevan Ridley.

Also not practicing again on Thursday for New England were DE and UB alum Trevor Scott (hamstring) and LB Tracy White (foot).

For the second straight day DL Spencer Johnson (ankle) and G Kraig Urbik (foot) were limited in practice. Head coach Chan Gailey however, doesn’t sound concerned about the availability of either player for Sunday’s game at New England.

“They were limited today, but performed well,” said Gailey following Thursday’s practice.

Also limited in practice Thursday was DE Shawne Merriman with a chest injury. He was a new addition to the injury report along with Chris Kelsay and his neck injury.

“If we don’t give up big plays, the defense can be very, very good,” said Wilfork. ”That’s one of the things we have to get better at – stop giving up big plays and stop hurting ourselves. And like I said, they’re a team that can strike from anywhere on the field – in the air and on the ground. We have to do a better job of that this time around because that game was close. We got a couple turnovers in that game that basically led to points on our end. But without those turnovers, you’re looking at a different ballgame so we definitely have to minimize the big plays on our defense.”

New England has given up a league-leading 42 pass plays of 20 yards or more this season including 10 for touchdowns. Four of those 10 touchdowns were scored by the Bills in the first meeting with the Patriots.

That according to head coach Chan Gailey.

“He’s looking good and I think he’ll be just fine,” said Gailey. ”I think he’ll get back to the field tomorrow. Things are looking positive to this point unless he has a major setback.”

Johnson said on his weekly radio show Monday that he expects to begin practicing Thursday, though he’s likely to be limited.