Mike Vrabel kept the focus on Christian Gonzalez’s health Saturday, making it clear the Patriots cornerback’s absence from practice is injury-related and not tied to the ongoing contract standoff between the two sides.
Gonzalez has now missed the last two practices, along with New England’s preseason opener against the Colts on Thursday night. Vrabel said there shouldn’t be any expectation that the corner is ready to jump back into work yet.
“No, I don’t think I would expect Christian. Nor should you expect Christian,” Vrabel said.
“Working hard, conditioning, but won’t be practicing. He’s not ready to get back out there and practice yet.”
The Patriots coach also pushed back on any suggestion that the team and Gonzalez are out of sync while negotiations drag on. When asked whether both sides remain on the “same page,” Vrabel said they do.
“Yeah, absolutely. I think that’s the important thing,” Vrabel said.
“I’ve talked about his professionalism, everybody else’s. This isn’t anything that - it was something that happened in practice.
“And he’s where he’s supposed to be when he needs to be there, treatment, working with [director of sports performance] Frank [Piraino] and doing those things. Yes, obviously, that’s my job is to be on the same page with everybody here, players and coaches, and I’m confident that that’s what we’re doing.”
Gonzalez was not seen at Gillette Stadium during Thursday’s preseason game against the Colts, after appearing to suffer the injury while defending Romeo Doubs in the end zone on Monday.
Vrabel said after the Patriots’ 13-13 tie that Gonzalez was not the only injured player kept away from the field that night.
“Christian was unavailable, physically unavailable for the practice,” Vrabel said after Thursday’s 13-13 draw. “That’s the clarification. Just like other players that I told to have treatment, and everybody has a plan here, there were other guys that were in that same category.”
“If you want to list the names, Christian Elliss, Brenden Schooler, Harold Landry, Christian Barmore, et cetera. So make sure they’re all included. They were all in the same group of what they did.”
The exact severity of Gonzalez’s injury remains unclear. The All-Pro corner also missed the first three weeks of the 2025 season after dealing with a hamstring injury early in training camp last year.
The contract situation has become one of the defining stories of Patriots camp. Last month, Robert Kraft said the team had already put an offer on the table that would have made Gonzalez the NFL’s highest-paid cornerback and given him the biggest contract in franchise history.
That benchmark has now shifted. Seattle Seahawks cornerback Devon Witherspoon reportedly agreed to a four-year, $132 million extension, making him the league’s highest-paid corner. According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the deal - negotiated by Gonzalez’s agent, Reggie Johnson - changes the market for Gonzalez, even as talks with the Patriots have stalled.
Now that Devon Witherspoon’s deal is done, the market also has been reset for Patriots CB Christian Gonzalez, who also is looking for a new deal and has the same agent, Reggie Johnson, as Witherspoon. The Patriots and Gonzalez have not made much progress so far. pic.twitter.com/7Pr7CzBTDD
- Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) August 15, 2026
Gonzalez also appeared to hint at the slow pace of those discussions earlier this week, posting an Instagram story on Tuesday with the lyric, “Should have been done by now.”
Still, back in June, Gonzalez made his preference plain.
“Of course I want to be here,” Gonzalez said in June. “I’ve said this multiple times.
I’ve been drafted here. I want to be rewarded as a Patriot, and I love this town.
I love this city. So, yeah, of course I want to be here.”
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