hopeful in hoping that he can come back and really finish the year off,” Wilks said after Wednesday’s practice. “Talking to (hea

With Gronk’s status still up in the air and Dwayne Allen gone Nick Bosa Jersey , the Patriots need to make other plans at tight end. And they apparently are.Mike Reiss of ESPN.com reports that the Patriots “aggressively courted” Jared Cook before he chose the Saints.Cook, 31, is actually older than Gronkowski, and Cook entered the league a year before Gronk. Cook’s best season ever came in 2018, when he caught 68 passes for 896 yards and six touchdowns for a Raiders offense that didn’t have a whole lot around him.Gronkowski caught 47 passes for 682 yards and three touchdowns in 2018, his worst season featuring more than eight games played since his rookie year. But he came on strong in the postseason, helping the Patriots to another Super Bowl win.Although the Patriots typically like to have two quality pass-catching tight ends if they can, the decision to pursue Cook before getting a decision on retirement from Gronk raises an important question regarding Gronk’s future: Do the Patriots still want him? Given what he can do if healthy in the postseason L.J. Collier Jersey , they should. Given his production in the regular season, he could be moving toward the territory in which coach Bill Belichick has a reputation for moving on one year too early instead of one year too late.And it still may not be too late to get Cook. Despite multiple reports that a deal is close and comments from Cook talking about catching passes from Saints quarterback Drew Brees, Cook still hasn’t officially signed with the Saints. Until he does, Cook remains potentially in play. TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) — The Arizona Cardinals‘ bad injury situation got worse on Wednesday when starting left tackle D.J. Humphries was placed on injured reserve with a knee injury.The move leaves rookie center Mason Cole as the only remaining member of the offensive line that began the season, and he took over late in the preseason when starter A.Q. Shipley went down with a season-ending knee injury. Guards Mike Iupati and Justin Pugh are on injured reserve and tackle Andre Smith was released.Earlier this week, rookie Christian Kirk went on IR with a broken foot, depleting an already thin wide receiver group.Humphries is the 14th Cardinal Marquise Blair Jersey , and sixth offensive lineman, to go on injured reserve.Coach Steve Wilks had insisted over the past two weeks that he was hopeful Humphries would play but it never happened.“I think you always have to be hopeful in hoping that he can come back and really finish the year off,” Wilks said after Wednesday’s practice. “Talking to (head athletic trainer) Tom (Reed), talking to the doctors, they thought it was the best thing for him just to be able to shut it down, so he doesn’t have major surgery and have a setback for next year.”No surgery is planned, at least not yet, Wilks said.Four of the five offensive linemen who will start for Arizona on Sunday against Detroit are rookies.Seventh-round draft pick Korey Cunningham is the left tackle D.K. Metcalf Jersey , with Will Holden — a former Cardinal and the only non-rookie in the group — re-signed last week and started at right tackle three days later.Colby Gossett, an undrafted rookie free agent signed off the Minnesota practice squad on Oct. 30, made his NFL debut in last Sunday’s 20-17 win at Green Bay and will be the left guard Sunday when Arizona hosts Detroit. Oday Aboushi, another undrafted rookie free agent, was signed by the Cardinals on Oct. 23 and will be the right guard.Arizona rushed for a season-best 187 yards behind the makeshift line and quarterback Josh Rosen expressed confidence in them.Rosen will miss his friend Kirk, though.“It’s a big bummer,” Rosen said. “I was hanging out with him last night. It’s a bummer for the Cardinals and everything, but for him as well because he was starting to hit his stride. He was starting to really feel comfortable out there Cody Barton Jersey , and we were getting that connection.”Rosen, though, said, he was “very confident that he (Kirk) will come back stronger than ever.”