Patriots fear TE Gronkowski has torn ACL

It's been a rough year for New England's Rob Gronkowski.

The Patriots tight end missed the first six games recovering from offseason forearm and back surgeries. Now, Gronkowski's season appears to be over after he hurt his right knee on a hit by Browns safety T.J. Ward after a reception in New England's 27-26 win over Cleveland on Sunday.

Coach Bill Belichick said Gronkowski is expected to undergo an MRI on Monday. It is believed that he suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament

"We've sustained some pretty big injuries this year with really important, critical players," said Patriots QB Tom Brady. "I think we all feel sorry for Rob, but I don't think anyone feels sorry for the Patriots."

Ward showed some class after the hit, going up to Gronkowski before he left the field on a cart.

"My intention is never to hurt anyone. That's not what this game is about. That's not how I play," Ward said. "I hate to see guys go down with any type of injury. I just wanted him to know, whether he accepted it or not, it wasn't intentional to injure him. But we have to play this game. We have to play it the way that they force us to, and unfortunately, it incurred an injury for him."

Peterson hurt. Gronkowski will be joined on Monday's MRI line by Minnesota running back Adrian Peterson, who rolled his right ankle after catching a pass and being tackled near the sideline in the Vikings' 29-26 loss at Baltimore.

Peterson said he "just felt it pop a couple times and the pain was excruciating." (Just watching the replay was painful.) The Vikings workhorse, who is among the NFL leaders with 1,221 yards rushing, said he still wanted to get back in the game, and expects to play again this season.

He was angry at the Ravens fans after the game, though, calling them "the worst in the NFL." (Yep, it was a good day all around for Eagles fans.)

"[They were] throwing snowballs the entire fourth quarter, like kids," Peterson said.

Almost, not quite. The saddest part of the Steelers' Antonio Brown failing to score on a hook-and-ladder lateral parade against the Dolphins? At one point in the six-player rugby play, 330-pound tackle Marcus Gilbert had the ball. He flipped it to Ben Roethlisberger, who tossed to Brown. Gilbert came a footstep short of being a legend.