Patriots' Mike Vrabel drops concerning Christian Gonzalez update

The New England Patriots sat most of their starters in the preseason opener vs. the Indianapolis Colts.

However, given his contract situation, Christian Gonzalez's absence didn't go unnoticed, especially considering he also missed time in joint practices. Head coach Mike Vrabel revealed he was dealing with an undisclosed injury, citing that he wasn't the only player on the sidelines.

Now, it looks like things could be a bit more serious than initially reported, as Vrabel all but ruled him out of the next couple of practices at least.

Christian Gonzalez might miss time with an injury

"No, I don't think I would expect Christian. Nor should you expect Christian," Vrabel said, per NBC Sports Boston. "Working hard, conditioning, but won't be practicing. He's not ready to get back out there and practice yet."

Of course, with Gonzalez looking to get a contract extension, the timing of this undisclosed injury is suspicious, to say the least. Coach Vrabel, however, insisted that Gonzalez's injury isn't contract-related; he's there with the team's staff getting treatment to get back on the field as soon as possible.

"Yeah, absolutely. I think that's the important thing," Vrabel replied. "I've talked about his professionalism, everybody else's. This isn't anything that -- it was something that happened in practice."

Whether that's actually the case is anybody's guess. That said, the Seattle Seahawks just signed Devon Witherspoon to a record-breaking contract extension, giving Gonzalez a baseline to become the league's highest-paid cornerback. They're running out of time to get a deal done before the start of the season.