The Facts: Following up on the ongoing story. ... Gronkowski underwent surgery on his back Tuesday to correct a spinal issue and will soon begin rehab in the hope of returning to action in late August, a person informed of the prognosis told USA TODAY Sports. The person, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the Patriots don't divulge injury information publicly, said the optimistic view is that Gronkowski will be back to work just before the end of the preseason.

Diehards Line:As USA Today's Mike Garafolo went on to explain, the problem is Gronkowski has been inactive since the Patriots were eliminated from the postseason in late January, first because of a nagging arm infection related to his broken forearm and now because of his back surgery to correct a problem that's been nagging him since last season. "In other words," Garafolo wrote, "by no means is Gronkowski expected to be in top form leading up to Week 1. ..." Indeed, Garafolo added that "Gronkowski will surely begin training camp on the physically-unable-to-perform list." That said, he's eligible to come off at any point, though if he remains on PUP come Week 1, he can't even practice until Week 6. At that point, he'd have a three-week window to begin practicing, with another three-week window to be added to the 53-man active roster. ... Stay tuned. More undoubtedly to come.