Patriots' Christian Gonzalez on the Road to Recovery: Key to Playoff Push
The New England Patriots have been missing their star cornerback Christian Gonzalez for the first two weeks of the 2025 season as he’s been working through a hamstring injury. Head coach Mike Vrabel gave an update on his status during his Friday media availability after practice.
“We listed him as limited which means that he did some work,” Vrabel said. “We’ll still kind of evaluate where he’s at closer to the game. It was good to see him out there, good to have him out there. The more guys we can get out there, the better.
Gonzalez injured his hamstring in late July, but was projected to be ready for week one after he recovered through training camp. His deadline has continued to be pushed back amidst speculation about the severity of his injury, but his participation in practices this week os the first sign that he may be available heading into the Pats week three matchup with the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Gonzalez was listed as a limited participant for Wednesday, Thursday and Friday’s practices. He was a DNP in each practice leading into the first two games, so the LP tag means that he has a chance to suit up for the first time in 2025 this weekend.
Gonzalez’s Potential Return Massive For Patriots Defense
Christian Gonzalez was voted the sixth best cornerback in the NFL in a preseason poll taken by executives, coaches and scouts. The 2023 No. 17 overall pick is a huge asset for the Patriots pass defense which has been solid through two weeks, but definitely missing their star.
Gonzalez missed 13 games his rookie season after he tore his labrum in week four of 2023, following a strong start to his career through three games. He then played in 16 games last season for New England, registering two interceptions and a fumble recovery. He was named to the AP All-Pro Second team in his first full NFL season and was also voted fifth in Comeback Player of the Year voting.
Gonzalez’s absence has created a cloud around the Patriots defense so far, but his return will be imperative for New England to push towards the playoffs in QB Drake Maye’s second season and Vrabel’s first with the Pats. If he can return this weekend, he will surely be matched up against Pittsburgh’s No. 1 wide receiver D.K. Metcalf.
Lengthy Injury Report For New England
The Patriots have 10 players listed on their injury report this week, consisting of Gonzalez, Keion White, Christian Barmore, K’Lavon Chaisson, Carlton Davis III, Harold Landry III, Marte Mapu, Morgan Moses, Jack Westover and Jared Wilson. White and Barmore were both elevated to full participants on Thursday while the rest were limited participants.
The Steelers also have nine players listed on their injury report, with the big ones being Metcalf, T.J. Watt and Patrick Queen. Watt and Queen were both full participants Thursday, a sign that they’ll likely play Sunday, while Metcalf didn’t practice Thursday. He is listed out with a non-injury related absence, which is probably just load management for the star WR.
Trade proposal has Bills sending backup QB to Raiders for future draft capital
NFL teams are working on trimming their rosters down to 53 players by Tuesday's deadline, and the Buffalo Bills have a couple of tough decisions to make.
One decision is at quarterback, where they have three backups who could legitimately be the QB2. Mitchell Trubisky is the favorite for the spot after holding off Mike White. Suddenly, Shane Buechele is in the conversation as well, following a great performance in the finale.
Buffalo is likely to keep Trubisky at No. 2, which means White and Buechele are only on the roster if they go three deep. Rather than simply release one (or both), the Bills could see if a quarterback-needy team is willing to part with a late-round pick. That's what ESPN's Bill Barnwell believes they should do, as he suggested the Las Vegas Raiders could send a sixth-round pick to Buffalo for White.
"With Josh Allen riding a league-high stretch of 105 consecutive starts into the regular season, the Bills are going as far as he will take them. They brought back Mitch Trubisky to serve as their No. 2 option, so while they could carry White as the No. 3, they might prefer two passers and use that roster spot elsewhere," Barnwell said.
"Without a sixth-round pick in the 2026 draft, the Bills would be convinced to go with that two-QB option and let White move to Las Vegas. The Raiders would land a quarterback with a 43.1 Total QBR over his four active NFL seasons, a perfectly reasonable figure for a backup making $1.2 million this season."
Barnwell's prediction doesn't even consider Buechele, but it should. Even if Buffalo wanted to keep three quarterbacks, White is likely on the outside looking in. Using his past performance as a way to get draft capital from Las Vegas would be a brilliant move. Sure, it's not a premium pick, but it's better than nothing -- which is what they would get for releasing White.
