Patriots’ Christian Gonzalez misses Monday practice with hamstring injury

The New England Patriots will be playing Week 1 against the Las Vegas Raiders, but there may be some questions about who will be on the field when the game starts. Christian Gonzalez is one of those players, as he suffered a hamstring injury in the first padded practice of training camp. He hasn’t been on the field since then, and the latest update doesn’t sound too promising, according to ESPN’s Mike Reiss.

“CB Christian Gonzalez (hamstring) is not anticipated to practice today, according to coach Mike Vrabel,” Reiss wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

Gonzalez is the best cornerback on the team, and without him, other players will have to step up. Hamstring injuries are always tricky, and you can either be sidelined for a short amount of time or for longer. In Gonzalez’s case, it looks like he is facing the consequences of the latter, and there’s no telling when he’ll be back on the field.

At this point, he could miss several weeks, but it should only be to start the season since he’s already been out for some time. The Patriots could be one of the better defensive teams in the league this season, but without one of their top players, it’ll be interesting to see how they fare against others.

Patriots’ defense taking shape

Head coach Mike Vrabel is more defense-focused when it comes to his style, and that’s probably why there have been some surprising changes on that side of the ball. The latest move they made was releasing Jabrill Peppers, who was set to be a starter this season. The question now is who will be the starter for the Patriots at safety, and Jaylinn Hawkins may be the answer for now.

Another safety that seemed like his time was coming short with the Patriots is Kyle Dugger, as he was in trade rumors for the past few weeks. Dugger had an interesting training camp, as he was demoted in the depth chart after being a quality starter for the team over the past few seasons. It looks like he may be safe for now, and with Peppers gone, he could fill that role if the Patriots see something there.

The defensive line and linebackers group look settled, and those may be the groups that help the defense find success this season.