Watch: Was Rob Gronkowski's hit a dirty play?

Well, this was ugly. Late in the New England Patriots’ 23-3 blowout of the Buffalo Bills, Pats tight end Rob Gronkowski came off the rails.

With just under five minutes remaining in the game, Bills cornerback Tre’Davious White outplayed Gronkowski and snared an interception, and then Gronk did this:

Gronkowski launched himself at White’s prone body and threw a shoulder at the back of White’s head, and got tagged with an unnecessary roughness penalty. The hit was hard enough to put White in concussion protocol, and after the game, Bills coach Sean McDermott said he was “not happy” with the hit.

Bills safety Micah Hyde left no doubt what he thought:

In the postgame handshake, Patriots head coach Bill Belichick offered an apology and harsh assessment of Gronkowski’s hit to his counterpart:

Afterward, Gronkowski apologized:

We’ll see what the league office has to say about Gronkowski’s hit, but this isn’t a good look at all. At the very least, a fine is likely on the way.

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Jay Busbee is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Contact him at jay.busbee@yahoo.com or find him on Twitter or on Facebook.

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