Dr. Thomas Gill No Longer Team Doctor For Patriots
BOSTON (CBS) -- The Patriots will have a new team doctor for the 2014 season.
The team announced Thursday that Dr. Thomas Gill will be stepping down as the chief of sports medicine at Mass General Hospital Sports Medicine to "focus on his private practice."
The Patriots said they "always" have Mass General's chief of sports medicine serve as the team's medical director, so Gill's move will end his tenure with the team.
Dr. Matt Provencher will take over as MGH's chief of sports medicine.
"We greatly appreciate the many years of dedicated service and innovation that Dr. Gill provided our team and wish him well in the future," the Patriots said in a release. "We will continue to work with MGH Sports Medicine to provide our medical services and look forward to receiving the level of care and expertise that MGH has been providing the New England Patriots since our team's inception."
Previously, Gill served as the Red Sox' team medical director from 2005-12, with ESPN reporting that Gill was in the middle of team-wide friction regarding the medical staff.
There were reportedly disagreements between Rob Gronkowski's family and Gill regarding the tight end's care following his injuries in 2012, a disagreement that spilled into the 2013 season. The team believed Gronkowski would be able to return to the field within the first few weeks of the season, but he did not make his season debut until Week 7.
The NFLPA also filed a grievance against against the Patriots, which asked Gill to step down, last July. That request was made after the team tried to recoup money after signing Jonathan Fanene, who never played a down for New England and reportedly failed to disclose a medical condition before signing his contract.
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