Like many others here, I was very interested in the Hawks pick-up of Mark Gronowski this offseason. I had watched him play in two of those FCS championship games, and some other playoff games, and I came away impressed. I also watched fair amount of his highlights and I liked what I saw. When I heard the news about his off-season shoulder surgery I became a bit concerned, and my optimism turned to caution. So it was with great intrigue that attended the Kid's Day practice, with the intent of evaluting all of the QBs, but especially Mark Gronowski.
Here's what I saw in the past games I watched on TV and online: an unafraid and tough competitor, he can run, he can throw with accuracy, and he can throw on the run with accuracy.
Here's what I saw on Kid's Day: hesitation, a poor and awkward release point, wobbly passes, and a guy throwing with his upper body/torso instead of throwing with his arm fully extended (adding leverage) and using the shoulder joint as the hingepoint.
During week 1, he looked to me about the same as he did on Kid's Day.
My conclusion: this is a guy who still has an injured shoulder or it is a shoulder that isn't fully healed yet post-surgery. I saw him favoring a shoulder that just "isn't right" , and at times it looked like his sensation in the hand and/or ability to use his arm strength isn't the same as it used to be (aka "dead arm").
I too had some labrum issues, between ages 22 and 26, and it did give me a "dead arm" feeling and it seriously compromised my ability to pitch, throw a football, and swing a tennis racket (even thought I was in no way was putting the amount of stress that MG is putting on his shoudler joint). It is my opinion that the ability to engage the arm and hand to throw (or other similar movements) while extended is completely compromised when the labrum is inflamed, no matter how tough the person is.
Dirty secret about shoulder surgery: like back surgery, it's a gamble, the various nerves are often affected, and sometimes the shoulder feels worse after surgery, not better.
Looking at MG's stats: this guy has a lot of miles on that shoulder. In particular, MG is a mobile-type of quaterback and all of those throws on the run at varying arm angles put additional stress (and wear and tear) on the shoulder joint. As a 4 year starter he carried his team to the playoffs all 4 years, and he played in 15 games each of those last 3 seasons, without much rest. Also, being willing to run as much as he did (and still does), acting as the ball carrier means that his shoulder took a beating whether it was from when he landed on his strong side (throwing shoulder), or when he took all those hits on that side from defenders.
In short, that shoulder of his has taken a beating, especially during the last 3 seasons, and it's no wonder it was in need of a clean-up surgery. My guess is he had years worth of degredation to the labrum that accumulated from many angular throws on the run and high-impact tackles. I hope MG and the coaches are being realistic in regard to the amount of time his body will need to fully recover.
Here's what I saw in the past games I watched on TV and online: an unafraid and tough competitor, he can run, he can throw with accuracy, and he can throw on the run with accuracy.
Here's what I saw on Kid's Day: hesitation, a poor and awkward release point, wobbly passes, and a guy throwing with his upper body/torso instead of throwing with his arm fully extended (adding leverage) and using the shoulder joint as the hingepoint.
During week 1, he looked to me about the same as he did on Kid's Day.
My conclusion: this is a guy who still has an injured shoulder or it is a shoulder that isn't fully healed yet post-surgery. I saw him favoring a shoulder that just "isn't right" , and at times it looked like his sensation in the hand and/or ability to use his arm strength isn't the same as it used to be (aka "dead arm").
I too had some labrum issues, between ages 22 and 26, and it did give me a "dead arm" feeling and it seriously compromised my ability to pitch, throw a football, and swing a tennis racket (even thought I was in no way was putting the amount of stress that MG is putting on his shoudler joint). It is my opinion that the ability to engage the arm and hand to throw (or other similar movements) while extended is completely compromised when the labrum is inflamed, no matter how tough the person is.
Dirty secret about shoulder surgery: like back surgery, it's a gamble, the various nerves are often affected, and sometimes the shoulder feels worse after surgery, not better.
Looking at MG's stats: this guy has a lot of miles on that shoulder. In particular, MG is a mobile-type of quaterback and all of those throws on the run at varying arm angles put additional stress (and wear and tear) on the shoulder joint. As a 4 year starter he carried his team to the playoffs all 4 years, and he played in 15 games each of those last 3 seasons, without much rest. Also, being willing to run as much as he did (and still does), acting as the ball carrier means that his shoulder took a beating whether it was from when he landed on his strong side (throwing shoulder), or when he took all those hits on that side from defenders.
In short, that shoulder of his has taken a beating, especially during the last 3 seasons, and it's no wonder it was in need of a clean-up surgery. My guess is he had years worth of degredation to the labrum that accumulated from many angular throws on the run and high-impact tackles. I hope MG and the coaches are being realistic in regard to the amount of time his body will need to fully recover.
