FOXBOROUGH -- Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski paid a short visit to Gillette Stadium Tuesday morning, but his teammates won’t have him on the field for the foreseeable future, an absence that figures to be a closely watched story the next few weeks.

To a man — talking points? — the Patriots are saying pretty much the same thing about Gronkowski, who had surgery Monday morning for a broken left forearm and is expected to miss 4-8 weeks.