When will Christian Gonzalez finally make his 2025 debut — and why is his rehab taking so long?
Both questions have persisted over the last two-plus months as the New England Patriots’ star cornerback recovers from a hamstring injury he suffered on July 28. And they’re not without merit, especially since initial reports suggested Gonzalez would only miss a few weeks and be ready for the season opener.
Instead, Gonzalez missed 51 days of practice in addition to the first two games of the season, and his status for New England’s Week 3 matchup with the Pittsburgh Steelers is still unclear after he was a limited participant in Wednesday’s and Thursday’s practices.
What’s more, Mike Vrabel and the Patriots (as well as Gonzalez himself) were tight-lipped about Gonzalez’s injury throughout his absence, so we still don’t know if the 23-year-old cornerback experienced a setback in his rehab or what caused him to be out longer than expected.
Teams declining to share extensive injury updates is nothing new — see: the entire Bill Belichick era in New England — but as Patriots Insider Tom E. Curran explained on Thursday’s episode of Quick Slants, the Patriots’ lack of transparency with Gonzalez doesn’t paint the star cornerback in the best light.
“A day after (Gonzalez’s injury), we got this tidbit from a national guy, Jordan Schultz, saying that Gonzalez was expected to return by the opener, so, that hamstring was not a huge issue,” Curran said. “But meanwhile, 51 days later, Gonzalez finally was back on the practice field on Wednesday, and the biggest question as he got back on the field has been: ‘What took so long?’
“I understand why teams are tight-lipped on injuries. Why tell an opponent who’s hurting and how badly? But players are done a disservice when they aren’t allowed to be open about their injuries — which, when their performance isn’t up to snuff or they can’t perform at all, becomes difficult for them to explain if they’re not supposed to talk about what their situation is.”
With Gonzalez specifically, Curran explained, there’s an extra dynamic at play. The third-year cornerback will be eligible for a contract extension next offseason, and if he continues on his current trajectory after earning Second-Team All-Pro honors in 2024, he’ll be in line for a massive payday.
If he doesn’t want to jeopardize that payday, he may be motivated to wait until he’s 100 percent healthy to return, instead of coming back too soon and risking re-injury. But you could argue the Patriots — who have allowed back-to-back 300-yard passers to start the season — would benefit from having their top cornerback on the field as soon as possible, even if he’s not 100 percent.
Is that dynamic motivating Gonzalez to proceed cautiously with his injury? We don’t know, but with a lack of concrete information, such speculation will persist.
“There were only four All-Pro cornerbacks last year. Gonzalez was one of them. If he maintains that level of play, he’s got multi-generational wealth awaiting him,” Curran said. “He wants to be as close to perfect as he can possibly be when he’s out there.
“But the fact is, 70 percent of Gonzalez is probably better than most of the league’s corners, so there’s this push-pull reality in the NFL that will never go away where you’re hoping that the player is as close to perfect as he can be, and you want him out there, and sometimes it’s less than 100 percent.”
Check out the video player above for more from Curran on Gonzalez, and tune into “Quick Slants” at 6 p.m. ET every Thursday on NBC Sports Boston.
