but seems surgery is the only option for this injury. >>reporter: out of 21 times in gronkowski's career, he's missed a regular or post-season game. we can now pencil him in for 26 games. five games remaining this year. gronkowski definitely going to be out if the reports are true that he is set to undergo back surgery tomorrow no los angeles. nobody as much as gronkowski. >> gronkowski is a tough guy. no one thought he would be back last week. then he came through late in the week and i know he works hard at getting his treatment so he can be back out there. hopefully it is nothing serious. >>reporter: unfortunately for tom brady, rob gronkowski's injury is not only serious, but it may end his season. the all-protight end reportedly set to undergo surgery in los angeles tomorrow to repair a her

dating back to 2009. recovery time expected to be eight weeks, which means he could be back in time for the afc championship game if the patriots make it that far. >> brady throwing, and that is incomplete and gronkowski gets popped. boy, he took a shot. >>reporter: gronkowski's injury comes on the heels of what he called one of the hardest hits of his career from earl thomas, resulting in a prefer rated lung. these add today a laundry list of ailments he's suffered over that includes surgeries performed on his ankle, forearm and knee. with gronkowski sidelined the burden follows on ben nit, who is dealing with an ankle and shoulder injury of his own. >> just make sure i'm ready to play. can only control what is going over my body. >>reporter: interesting to note the patriot's tight end situation began the year without

one. so gronkowski's injury, they say, likely won't prevent the 9-2 patriots from making the play offs, but will leave new england with a major hole to fill. we have more on what this means to the team. john. >>reporter: definitely not good. this is not the type of news that tom brady and the rest of gronkowski's teammates wanted to hear but they know that injuries are a big p they are to be expected and they all say they are going to deal with it. >> brady, and that is incomplete. around gronkowski gets popped. >>reporter: with rob gronkowski reportedly set to are surgery for a back injury, tight end bennett could see morea sunday, but is not admitting the game plan is changing. >>reporter: does your game plan change when rob is not on the field and it is just you out there? >> i have been doing the same

job. >>reporter: i'm not asking you for the game plan but -- >> not for me. it is consistent. same for me. >>reporter: bennett's been dealing with a nagging ankle injury, but says he feels good. it is december, the nfl and football and most every player as some kind of a nick or bruise this time of year, but not like gronkowski's. >> you just have to be mentally tough and whatever it is just do your best in the week to get yourself as ready to go as you possibly can for >>reporter: having gronkowski out for possibly eight weeks, perhaps the rest of the season, bad news for the new england patriots, but they are planning to step up and be ready. >> we are going to go out there every week. next man up mentality. there is a lot of weapons on this team and we play well together so whoever is out there, we are going to go out there and play with whoever it is. we should note the player availability in the locker room came before news of the

broke so we have no direct quotes from the players about that. the patriots just posted their injury report. it is an understatement and says gronkowski did not practice because of his back. >> so keeping track here, this will be gronkowski's thirds back surgery. we talked to an orthopedic doctor and he joins us live. >>reporter: we just got done talking to the chief o orthopedic spine surgery here at the hospital so this is right in his wheel house. he says these herniated disks are quite common, but since this is his third back surgery, he says it could be more serious. the doctor, whose treated some patriots players and has done hundreds of these surgeries, says if gronkowski injured a new disk, surgery will most likely be routine. if it is the same disc he injured before there could be more problems.

it is to come back from an injury like this. >>after this injury or this condition, with or without surgery, a high percentage of nfl football players actually will get back to full play. it is not unheard of for him to come back, it would be considered more likely than not that he will return to full play. >>reporter: now the doctor says if surgery goes well with no also, he says it is possible that the gronkowski could be back in time to play for the super bowl. >> tough news for fans to take. a post-season without gronkowski. that sounds tough. >> most know better than to doubt the patriots. we have more reaction. >>reporter: adam, fans are concerned for to reasons. number one, they want to make sure that gronkowski will be

what kind of impact this will have on the team's season. gronkowski is gone this sunday and likely many more, and we broke the news to many patriots fans. >> remember gronkowski is very badly hurt, is having back surgery and will be out for several weeks. >> oh no. that is a shame. >>reporter: he could be out for several weeks, possibly the whole season. >> oh, that is not a good thing for us. >>reporter: once that sunk in reality hit. what is the successful tight end's absence mean for the patriot's >> he is the backbone of the team. he is there for us. it is not a good thing. we are going to be in trouble. >>reporter: while no one seemed to expect this turn of events, gronkowski is prone to injuries. >> they need to wrap him up in bubble wrap. always getting hurt and falling on himself. >> some wishing the popular person who is also a patriots player focussed only on football and doing his job. >> he has to slow down on the commercials, i think. >>reporter: while it cast a

in the towel just yet. >> we have bennett, he is a good tight end. and we have brady, the goat. we are good. >> fans say the coach always has backup players so they are just putting their trust and faith in that. >> so we have established that gronkowski has a long list of serious injuries dating back to his time in college. we talked to boston globe columnist who says it is the nature of the game and that could be in jeopardy. >> he is obviously one of the greatest tight ends to ever play the game. staying on the field is a problem. we have seen this before. he had an amazing career. gronkowski has all the advances of modern medicine and science, but it is still football. he takes these amazing hits. you see them on the video. it is hard to stay out there and there is no guarantees in this thing. you have to say they are lucky to have had him as much as they

patriots don't end up winning the super bowl, in his opinion it will be because of the defense, not the loss of gronkowski. you can count on 7 for the latest on this story. for updates any time on gronkowski's injury download our mobile and tablet apps on whdh.com. more news we are following today, an 18-year-old from brockton charged with his mot mother's murder held without bail today. start. what happened? >>reporter: tense moments here at the courthouse that had the judge abruptly stepping off the bench for a short time just before the 18-year-old suspect who hid behind a wall pleaded not guilty to murdering his mother. an abrupt start to the arraignment had officers rush into the holding area when the suspect became uncooperative. >> you are charged with murder

wall, but seen here, that is 18-year-old frantz polynice of brockton, pleading not guilty to murdering his 44-year-old mother inside the family's home here on merit avenue in brockton yesterday afternoon. >> the report is that the defendant's mother, 44-year-old menia menida had been stabbed multiple times about the face, neck and torso area we this defendant, mr. polynice, her 18-year-old son. >>reporter: the suspect's grandmother was in the house at the woman was stabbed as many as 15 times with a kitchen knife. the mother of polynice's best friend who came to court is heartbroken. >> it is just so hard for us to believe that this happened. we were just saying yesterday where is he? >>reporter: polynice graduated from from brockton high school earlier this year where he played football. the motive remains a mystery. >> what would lead a person to

and do that activity? i don't know. >> this is a tragic situation an we are learning a lot. >>reporter: polynice is being held without bail right now. he is going to be back here at the courthouse later in the month and by then prosecutors may shed more light on a possible motive for the murder here. we are live in brockton tonight. steve cooper, 7 news. sky 7 over sharon today where police are investigating shots fired outside the econo lodge motel. someone staying in the motel call gunshots an when police arrived they found bullet casings and a weapon. they weren't able to find the person who owned the gun, but police say this investigation is still very active. e all right, let's get to the trump transition now. the president-elect hitting the road for an unprecedented thank-you tour, making his first public speech since the election. president-elect started in indiana to announce that 1,000 jobs will now be staying here in the u.s. from there, mr. trump goes to

>>reporter: president-elect trump has spent most of the three weeks since his big win out of the public eye. today he took a break from transition planning and hit the road. his team already claiming a victory on a campaign promise. donald trump took off from new york thursday morning en route to ohio for his first major public appearance since election night, but first a stop in indiana carrying through on a campaign promise to convince carrier to drop plans to mov 1,000 jobs here in the u.s. >> we can't allow this to happen anymore with our country. so many jobs are leaving and going to other countries. not just mexico. many, many countries. the numbers of manufacturing jobs that are lost, especially in the rust belt -- and the rust belt is so incredible. but we are losing companies. it is unbelievable. one after another. >>reporter: in his role as

poised to offer the company tax incentives to stay in the state. >> i just want to let all of the other companies know that we are going to do great things for business. there is no reason for them to leave anymore because your taxes are going to be at the low end and your unnecessary regulations are going to be gone. we need regulations for safety and environment an things, but most of the regulations are nonsense. >>reporter: with the exception of a thanksgiving break in florida, the president-ect mostly been hunkered down inside trump tower in new york piecing together an administration that will take over in just several weeks. he's made visits tot white house and went to dinner with mitt romney. >> are we looking at the next secretary of state here? >> we'll see what happens. >>reporter: trump will hold a rally in cincinnati, ohio, marging his first appearance in front of a large crowd. the event in a state no republican has won the white house without, described as a thank you tour.

president-elect and the vice president-elect to talk a bit more about what's ahead in the days in front of us and the positive change that we are going to be bringing to the country. >> hundreds of carrier workers celebrated the deal just down the road employees at a technology plant, the parent company of carrier have learned their company will shut down and 700 jobs will be lost to mexico. their jobs will be phased out beginning in april. still ahead here, a dangerous e police now investigating the circumstances surrounding a bad crash in rhode island. >> then a father's search for a sippy cup for his child, leading to an outpouring of support. why that little blue cup is so important. and as we continue at 5:30, a hostage situation comes to a peaceful ending in florida. we are learning more about the tense moments before the suspect surrendered. and it is boston city hall

a winder wonderland. what will it look like when all is said and done. >> we are following the breaking news about rob gronkowski sidelined by back surgery. surgery. he is expected to s fios is not cable. we're wired h differently. to that means incredibly fast 150 meg internet for the holidays. so in the 3.7 seconds it takes gary watson to beat the local sled jump record, ...his friend can download 13 versions of the perfect song... ...his sister can live stream it... ...while his mom downloads how to set a dislocated shoulder. get 150 meg internet, tv and phone for just $79.99 per month online for the first year.

a fast lane on a rhode island highway. this dangerous drive topped out at speeds of more than 100 miles per hour and eventually came to a crashing end. >> now police are taking a closer look at this video. that driver was seriously injuried. the wild wreck wednesday morning went through providence, rhode island. you can see him in this video streaming live, weaving in and out of traffic, nearly hitting several cars. he then spun out of control, hitting a dump truck. into a barrier. rescue crews had to pull the man out of his car after the crash. traffic was backed up for at least two hours. right now the driver is listed in critical condition. the truck driver wasn't injured. police are using the video to determine whether to bring charges against the injured driver. first day of december, temps well into the 50s. second day of december, a little cooler. numbers up next.

at pats practice. it was an excused absence for him. we'll learn why he headed to the

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. patriots wide receiver edelman is a dad. he flew to los angeles to be with the mother as she gave birth to baby girl, lily. julian isn't in a relationship with the super model anymore,

during the big event. no practice yesterday, but edelman back at the stadium today with his teammates wishing him well. >> we were really happy for him and he is going to do great. >> do you know any good children's books that you could get for julian? >> i gave him hey aj saturday, but there is a ton of awesome children's books out there. >> and lily, by the way, was a healthy 8 pounds, 5 ounces. meteorologi meteorologist. >>reporter: so it begins the month of december. average high, 46. average low, 33. sundown at 4:12. december 31. normally boston has a high of upper 30s. warmest it's ever been, 76 in 1988. the coldest, 19 below in 1933. typically we do see measurable,

december. although, four of the last five years that has not been the case. only 2013 did the city have above normal snowfall, although if you were to extend this timeline even farther back there was a stretch in 2007, 2008 and 2010 where all those decembers were above normal. are we going to flip the page and go back to normal? i doubt we'll have a third straight december where the city picks up an inch on the map this evening, there is the big rainstorm moving offshore. there is another cold front tied to that storm in southern canada. this will come through tomorrow night and when that does that will send temperatures below normal for the weekend. in terms of the rainfall from the storm, again, this is the two day event -- tuesday and yesterday. many cities an towns close to two inches of beneficial rain. the good news, with the an event like this is that with the evaporation so minimal this time

water stays put. you can get those kind of storms and amounts of rain in the summertime, but usually the evaporation pulls it out of the ground the next day. we root for more rain like that, but it was nice to get the sun out there today. more sun tomorrow. right now temps near 50 with a west and northwesterly breeze at 10 to 15 miles per hour adding a little chill to the air, but that will put you in the holiday spirit for the boston common tree lighting tonight. mostly clear and upp through the evening hours the temps setting into the mid 40s tonight, mostly clear, cool and 34 to 40. behind that cool front, this colder air charges into new england after tomorrow so tomorrow the numbers are about where we should be this time of year. upper 40s. boston, 51, a little above normal. 7 on 7 forecast, there you go

ay maybe a couple snow flurries on monday morning, but nothing more than that. nothing significant. see you in a bit. right now, the world comes together to find a cup for ben. what is this, you say? it all started when a father turned to social media to find a blue sippy cup for his son who is living with autism. >> the company stopped making the cup. every parent knows now what do do you? people from all over the world reached out to help. >>reporter: s really meant everything to this teen so his dad made a desperate plea for help and the world responded. it might look like a simple blue sippy cup, but a father in the uk says it is a lifeline for his son with autism. the 14-year-old has been drinking from this style cup nearly his whole life an when the family needed a replacement they couldn't find one. >> we have tried to transition ben to a new cup and it went really badly.

new cup to youtube and twitter creating a hashtag #cupsforben. tommy tippy found the original mold in china and is working on creating a lifetime supply of the product for ben. >> i'm just in shock and surprise and it is just bizarre really that they have managed to do this. >>reporter: carter wants to use his new social media platform to help other kids like ben w might overlook. >> be that a teddy bear, be that a blanket, a toy, be it a cup, they've all got something they need and i want to do more. i want to help people. >> carter created a go fund me page to help raise money to ben can travel to china where his new cups are being made.

news. i ahead on 7, buzz aldron hospitaliz hospitalized. why did he have to be rescued from the south poll. and patriots rob gronkowski will undergo back surgery tomorrow. we'll have the details coming up. at blue cross blue shield of massachusetts, we offer a variety of medicare plans to fit your budget and your lifestyle. with plans starting as low as $0, you'll have zero things stopping you from really doing what you love. so call now to learn more about our plans that offer everything from annual wellness visits to routine hearing and vision exams, and prescription drugs. we have new dental coverage options too.

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tennessee. fill your car and empty the wallet. >> when would the gas station learn about it? >> they might not. >>reporter: high-tech hackers cashing in. >> and you are the target. tonight hank investigates. 7 news at 5:30 starts now. we are following breaking news. patriots tight end rob gronkowski off the field. the nfl network reporting gronkowski is having back surgery. >> with sunday's match up with the rams on sunday and play offs looming on the does this mean for the pats? >>reporter: gronkowski will be out for the final five games of this regular season. reports say the injury happened last weekend against the jets on a long incompletion in the first quarter. the injury forcing him to leave that game. gronkowski will undergo surgery in los angeles for a ruptured disc, the third back surgery of his career. the thought was that the injury came from this violent hit he took against the seahawks a few weeks back. you see it again here, slammed