New England Patriots cornerback Christian Gonzalez was among a group of players not in attendance for Thursday’s preseason opener.
Gonzalez was also sidelined for Tuesday’s joint practice session with the Indianapolis Colts, marking his first missed practice of the summer. Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel labeled the absence as a physical issue.
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“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.”
Gonzalez ended Monday’s training camp practice taking a hard fall while contending a jump ball against wide receiver Romeo Doubs in the end zone. He appeared to be shaken up following the play but did not appear to suffer a major injury.
The 23-year old remains on the middle of contract negotiations with the Patriots as he enters the fourth-year of his rookie contract, with the All-Pro likely ready to reset the cornerback market. After being a limited participant during mandatory minicamp this past spring, Gonzalez has been a full participant in training camp prior to Tuesday.
