his client Rob Gronkowski‘s decision to retire after nine seasons in the NFL and confirmed that health was the biggest reason why Gronkowski made the call right now.Rosenhaus said he initially thought Gronkowski would return for another season because he was back to himself in the postseason Chris Hogan Jerseys 2019 , but noted that several injuries took a toll on the tight end over the course of the 2018 season. He also said that the same concerns had Gronkowski “pretty close” to walking away from the game at this time last year.Rosenhaus was asked if he thought Gronkowski would have retired if the Patriots had beaten the Eagles in Super Bowl LII and said he thinks there’s a good chance that would have been the case.“He said that to me yesterday, ‘I won another championship. It’s three, the time’s right,'” Rosenhaus said.Rosenhaus said he pitched Gronkowski on the idea of taking the offseason off and spoke to the Patriots about limiting his workload in order to make it easier to say yes to another year. The team was amenable to the idea, but, ultimately, Gronkowski decided this was the right time to call it a day. NEW ENGLAND (8-0) at BALTIMORE (5-2)Sunday, 8:20 p.m. ET, NBCOPENING LINE — Patriots by 3½RECORD VS. SPREAD — New England 6-2 White Eric Rowe Jerseys , Baltimore 2-4-1SERIES RECORD — New England leads 10-3LAST MEETING — Patriots beat Ravens 30-23, Dec. 12, 1016LAST WEEK — Patriots beat Browns 27-13, Ravens bye (Beat Seahawks 30-16, Oct. 20)AP PRO32 RANKING — Patriots No. 1, Ravens No. 6.PATRIOTS OFFENSE — OVERALL (16), RUSH (23), PASS (7).PATRIOTS DEFENSE — OVERALL (2), RUSH (4) Eric Rowe Jerseys 2019 , PASS (2)RAVENS OFFENSE — OVERALL (2), RUSH (1), PASS (18).RAVENS DEFENSE — OVERALL (16), RUSH (3), PASS (26).STREAKS, STATS AND NOTES — Patriots seeking first 9-0 start since 2015. . Victory would ensure Patriots 19th straight winning season, extending mark for most in a row since 1970 merger. Would put Patriots second in NFL history behind 20 straight by Cowboys (1966-85). ... Ravens and Patriots tied for NFL lead with 71 offensive plays per game. ... Patriots own plus-189 point differential, second highest in NFL history through first eight games. Patriots set NFL record in 2007, finishing with plus-315. ... Patriots have won 21 straight against first- or second-year quarterbacks White LaAdrian Waddle Jerseys , longest such streak in NFL history. Ravens QB Lamar Jackson in second season. ... New England will play its sixth quarterback from 2018 draft class in Jackson. In five prior matchups this season, Patriots have allowed only one touchdown pass (Baker Mayfield, Week 8), while forcing 10 interceptions and allowing average of 126 passing yards per game. ... New England's defense allowing NFL-low 7.6 points per game. ... Patriots have forced NFL-best 27 turnovers and leads league with 19 INTs. Have at least one INT in each of first eight games. Team's longest streak since merger was 11 in 1985. . New England has held teams to just 15 of 96 (15.6 on third down in 2019. Fewest third downs allowed in 16-game season is 49 by 1991 Saints. . QB Tom Brady 6-1 in regular-season meetings with Baltimore. He's thrown for 1,892 yards and nine TDs in those meetings, with four interceptions. . Patriots will debut new kicker after releasing Mike Nugent and signing Nick Folk. In four games, Nugent was just 5 of 8 on field-goal attempts and missed extra point. Folk has made 80.3% of his field-goal attempts over 11-year NFL career. . LB Jamie Collins has three INTs and 2½ sacks in past four games on road. . Patriots S Devin McCourty leads NFL with 5 INTs in 2019. Has INT in three of past four on road. ... Ravens expect LB Patrick Onwuasor (ankle), WR Marquise Brown (ankle) and CB Jimmy Smith (knee) to return following restful bye week. ... Ravens 9-2 after bye week under Harbaugh, who took over in 2008. ... Jackson averaging 6.94 yards per carry LaAdrian Waddle Jerseys 2019 , tops for qualified rushers in NFL. ... Jackson only QB in NFL history to pass for at least 1,500 yards and rush for 500 over first seven games of season. ... Jackson 10th in NFL with 576 yards rushing, Mark Ingram 13th with 470. Ingram's seven rushing TDs are most by Raven in first seven games of season. ... Ravens K Justin Tucker has made 21 straight FG attempts. ... Baltimore has allowed total of five TDs in past three games, all of them victories. ... LB Matthew Judon has four Ravens' 12 sacks. ... Ravens 67-24 at home under Harbaugh, including 20-4 in November. ... Fantasy Tip: Look for Jackson to have a hand in most, if not all, Ravens TDs.