The New England Patriots took the practice field Tuesday without their top two cornerbacks, Christian Gonzalez and Carlton Davis.
Gonzalez left Monday’s training camp session with a hamstring injury, while Davis, one of the Patriots’ key offseason additions, has missed several practices due to an undisclosed ailment. NFL insider Jordan Schultz shared encouraging news on Gonzalez’s status Tuesday, reporting that his injury isn’t expected to affect his Week 1 status.
Nonetheless, it’s a concerning situation for a Patriots defense that is expected to be the team’s strength in 2025. If Gonzalez and/or Davis are sidelined to start the season, it could spell trouble for the new-look unit.
Should Pats fans be worried about the status of the secondary? Tom E. Curran shared his insight on the latest Patriots Talk Podcast.
🔊 Patriots Talk Podcast – Takeaways from Patriots training camp: Christian Gonzalez injury update & Drake Maye’s performance | Listen & Subscribe | Watch on YouTube
“Indications that I’ve gotten, they’re waiting to see. The hope — not the expectation, but the hope, of course — is that it’s day-to-day and not week-to-week,” Curran said of Gonzalez’s injury.
As for Davis, Curran has seen the veteran DB around the facility and isn’t ready to hit the panic button just yet.
“I have seen Carlton Davis twice in the last 24 hours, both times he was taking part in some rehab football activities, or at least was going from those activities. He was in football uniform,” Curran said. “It’s not time to start saying it was a horrendous free agent signing.”
With Gonzalez and Davis out of commission, it’s next man up in New England’s cornerback room. Their absence gives guys like Marcus Jones, Alex Austin, and Marcellas Dial a chance to shine, but it also means the passing game’s success should be taken with a grain of salt.
“The cornerback spot with those two guys out should be a spot for a professional receiver room to take advantage,” Phil Perry said.
“When we’re talking about the offense winning its fair share, let’s just keep that in mind as well. You’re going against guys like Marcus Jones and Alex Austin on the outside, who I think are both quality backups in terms of outside corners, and then Marcellas Dial is getting a lot of run as sort of an interior player. That’s not a group I would want to roll into the season with, necessarily.
“But I would say if you’re the Patriots or you’re either of those players — Carlton Davis or Christian Gonzalez — you should want to slow-play this. To me, you sort of know what those guys are. You know that they’re going to be really important to whatever you’re doing defensively when the games start to matter. … I want them fully healthy for when they’re asked to do that.”
Also in the episode:
