FOXBORO — It was four weeks to the day Monday that Patriots corrnerback Christian Gonzalez landed in a full-team period at practice and walked off the field with a left leg injury.
So, how is Gonzalez progressing?
“He’s working hard to get healthy, and I think that’s what I try to remind (media) all the time: that’ll be my stance on injuries,” Patriots coach Mike Vrabel said before practice. “That I’m confident that the player is working hard and that they’re doing what they’re asked to do, and once they, let’s say, recover from something that they’re working through, especially if it’s been in a training camp, if you look at this specific situation, there is some conditioning that’s involved.
Vrabel continued: “I think that’s probably different for each guy. In my own personal experience, you can only ride the bike so long or do the stair climb or something, you actually have to come out here, put pads on, run and get into football conditioning. So, whatever that takes, that takes, and I’ve said that to every player that’s not out there with us right now.”
Within two days of injuring his left leg, Gonzalez was back on the field watching practice in street clothes. Initially, he wore a compression sleeve on his left leg, which he hasn’t worn now for three weeks. Gonzalez also traveled to joint practices in Minnesota and for the Patriots’ preseason finale against the Giants last week.
Reportedly, Gonzalez should be available for Week 1, though the Patriots have less than two weeks to practice and prepare for their season opener against the Raiders on Sept. 7. In his place, the Patriots have rotated young corners Alex Austin and DJ James in practices opposite veteran free-agent addition Carlton Davis.
