The Patriots have a sneaky-tough matchup against the Rams on Sunday in London. The matchup will get tougher as New England will reportedly be without tight end Aaron Hernandez when they take the field.

The NFL Network reports that Hernandez, in fact, didn't even make the trip to London with the Patriots. But it's possible that Hernandez absence isn't injury-related:

Obviously missing a football game is well worth the experience of seeing a child being born. And if that's the case, it's actually good news for the Patriots, because it means his absence isn't the result of reaggravating his injured ankle. It also means that there's a small chance the tight end could still make the trip.

Hernandez injured his ankle in Week 2 against the Cardinals and was out of the Patriots lineup until Week 6, when he returned to catch a touchdown pass against the Seahawks.

Hernandez also caught five passes for 54 yards against the Jets in Week 7, so it's surprising to see him not playing on Sunday.

However, the Pats have the Rams in London for Week 8 and then a bye in Week 9. It's possible that Bill Belichick and his coaching staff felt the best way to proceed with Hernandez was to give him maximum rest for the next two weeks and then have him back at full health following the bye.

It's interesting that the Patriots would be willing to leave one of their top weapons off the field against a team like the Rams that has such a strong secondary: Cortland Finnegan and Janoris Jenkins will make it tough on the passing game and you'd expect Tom Brady to lean heavily on his tight ends.

That means a big game's likely coming for Rob Gronkowski, who caught six passes for 78 yards and two touchdowns against the Jets in Week 7.

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