New England’s preseason opener came and went without Christian Gonzalez on the field, and Mike Vrabel was quick to put the cornerback’s absence in the proper bucket: physical, not something more.
Gonzalez missed Thursday’s game after also sitting out Tuesday’s joint practice against the Indianapolis Colts. That marked his first absence from a practice this summer, and Vrabel explained afterward that the team had Gonzalez in the same treatment group as several other players.
“Christian was unavailable, physically unavailable, for the practice. That’s the clarification,“ Vrabel said postgame.
”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 timing is notable because Gonzalez had finished Monday’s training camp practice with a hard fall while battling Romeo Doubs for a jump ball in the end zone. He looked shaken up on the play, though it did not seem to be a major injury.
The 23-year-old is also in the middle of contract talks with New England as he heads into the fourth year of his rookie deal. With All-Pro status in hand, Gonzalez is positioned to help reset the cornerback market. Before Tuesday, he had been a full participant in training camp after being limited during mandatory minicamp this spring.
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