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Christian Gonzalez returns to Patriots practice
The talented third year cornerback has been out since training camp with a hamstring injury.
The Patriots secondary appears to be on the verge of getting a big boost for the Week 3 matchup with Aaron Rodgers and the Steelers.
Head coach Mike Vrabel revealed on Wednesday in a press conference that cornerback Christian Gonzalez would be returning to practice for the first time since sustaining a hamstring injury in training camp in July.
Speaking later to reporters, the former Patriots first-round pick acknowledged that it was difficult to be sidelined for more more than six weeks.
“Excited to be back out there,” Gonzalez said on Wednesday. “I love football. This is what I do, so I mean it’s been very challenging to be out for so long.”
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Gonzalez, 23, was a second-team All-Pro in 2024 and was seen as the team’s clear choice to be the No. 1 cornerback heading into the 2025 season.
Yet after suffering the hamstring injury on the day of the team’s first padded practice of training camp, the talented Gonzalez has been ruled out of any serious on-field activity since. This included the team’s first two games of the regular season.
During that span, New England surrendered a league-leading 630 passing yards.
Gonzalez will be expected to help the Patriots change that statistic. And given that New England also currently leads the league in sacks (with nine), the lanky cornerback could help the Patriots’ defense become much more effective and cohesive.
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Along with free agent signing Carlton Davis — who the Patriots brought in during the offseason on a three-year deal worth $60 million — Gonzalez will be expected to lock down opposing teams’ top wide receivers and enable New England to be able to play man coverage.
“Hopefully we can just play ‘cat’ coverage — ‘You’ve got this cat, I’ve got this cat.’ And we can go to work,” Vrabel said of the Gonzalez-Davis tandem when the latter signed in March.
And while he admitted that there will be challenges to getting back into the swing of things with the season already underway, Gonzalez had a simple way of responding to questions about potentially jumping back in for Week 3 against the Steelers.
“At the end of the day, it’s football.”
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