That was how some NFL team doctors, orthopedic surgeons, and other sports medicine experts around the country described the refractured left forearm that ended the season for Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski.

Carried by momentum as he caught the football, Gronkowski tumbled out of bounds during Sunday’s playoff game. He secured the ball with his right arm and braced for the fall with his heavily padded left arm. Nearly the full weight of his densely muscled, 6-foot-6-inch, 265-pound body crashed down on his previously injured left forearm.

As he awkwardly hit the Gillette Stadium turf, nothing could protect Gronkowski, 23. Doctors who watched replays of the catch-and-tumble saw a fluke re-injury, a player sidelined by an unfortunate coincidence, not an unwise return to action.

“It was just an unfortunate fall for him,” said Dr. Elizabeth Matzkin, an orthopedic surgeon specializing in sports medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. “Was the bone 100 percent healed? Probably not 100 percent healed. Was it as strong as it was before he broke it the first time? Probably not.

“Was it strong enough to let him get back to play? That’s a million-dollar question.

“He got a little unlucky. I don’t think there’s anyone to point fingers at or blame. That’s the risk you take when you’re taking care of an athlete at that level.”

Gronkowski refractured his ulna in a different place than he initially injured it Nov. 18 blocking on an extra-point attempt against the Colts. The new break is higher, closer to the elbow, than the original fracture, according to a team source. The same source added that the new break occurred just above the plate surgically inserted to fix the first fracture. The bone above the plate is potentially more vulnerable for breaking.

On Monday, Gronkowski again underwent surgery to repair his arm. All expectations are that the tight end will fully recover in the offseason and return for training camp.

Typically, a surgically repaired forearm takes 4-8 weeks to heal. Sunday’s playoff game between the Patriots and Texans marked eight weeks exactly since Gronkowski initially fractured his forearm. But even though the bone may have shown advanced healing at 4-8 weeks, that does not mean the forearm was back to its pre-injury strength. Full recovery may take 3-6 months or longer.

That said, doctors called the decision to let Gronkowski play medically sound.

“I looked at the replay where Gronk reinjured his arm,” said Mark Schickendantz, team doctor for the Cleveland Browns and Indians and director of the Cleveland Clinic Sports Health Center. “He comes down awfully hard on that arm.

“You hate to say bad luck, but you land on that arm just the right way and there you go. If he had landed on the other arm in that same manner, perhaps he’d have done something to that one.”

Asked how often he saw patients refracture forearms, Schickendantz said, “There is a small but known percentage of refracturing of forearm bones. It’s not something that is completely out of the ordinary.”

In determining when professional athletes should return from injury, team doctors weigh the pros and cons, looking at all the known percentages and more subjective measures.

While doctors might advise an average patient who suffers a forearm fracture to wait three months before resuming backyard football with friends, there are different considerations with a player such as Gronkowski.

For an NFL player whose X-rays indicated a healed bone at 4-8 weeks, and whose forearm doesn’t show swelling or feel tender, the importance of the game, the chance of re-injury, pain tolerance, and other factors come into play.

“It’s one complicated risk/reward equation,” said T.O. Souryal, the team doctor for the Dallas Mavericks who also treats professional football, soccer, and hockey players. “What are the risks of further injury vs. what are the rewards? The same exact injury carries a different risk/reward equation in preseason than it does in postseason.

“So an experienced team physician will have conversations with the player, with his agent, with management. You put all the facts together and come up with a risk/reward equation. The risk will never be zero and the rewards cannot be greater than winning a championship. On that spectrum, you use your best judgment to make a decision to allow a player to go out and showcase himself.”