FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) — The New England Patriots lost for the first time in 11 home openers at Gillette Stadium. They may have also lost one of their most dynamic and dangerous offensive weapons for a while.

Tight end Aaron Hernandez injured his right ankle midway through the first quarter of New England’s 20- 18 loss to the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday and did not return.

He left the stadium after the game wearing a walking boot.

“Hopefully, he’s fine,” said fellow tight end Rob Gronkowski, who caught a 5- yard touchdown pass from Tom Brady with 2:06 remaining before the Patriots failed on the 2-point conversion pass to Gronkowski that would have tied the game. “He’s a great player and we need him.”

After a sluggish start, New England (1-1) made it 20-12 on Stephen Gostkowski’s fourth field goal of the game, a 53- yarder, with 6:45 to play. Following a punt by Arizona (2- 0), Brady capped an 11-play, 82-yard drive with the touchdown pass to Gronkowski.

The Patriots got the ball back with 1:01 to play, though, after Arizona running back Ryan Williams fumbled and Vince Wilfork recovered. But Gronkowski stalled any momentum New England may have mounted when he was whistled for holding, a call that nullified a 30-yard run into the end zone by Danny Woodhead, and a false start two plays later.

Instead of trying to move closer, New England was content to try and win the game on a 42-yard field goal with 6 seconds left, but Gostkowski missed it wide left.

“You get opportunities like that not very often and I have to do a lot better job of coming through for the team,” said Gostowski, who had been 3 for 3 in his career on field goals that would have tied or won the game in the final two minutes.

The loss snapped a fivegame winning streak against Arizona and was New England’s first in a home opener since Gillette Stadium opened in 2002.

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