‘The Brinks truck is going to be backing up’ for Gonzalez

Former Patriots star and Professional Soccer Corridor of Famer Ty Regulation believes that New England goes to be doling out some pricy contracts subsequent offseason.

On the prime of the listing is a Patriots participant who has but to log a single snap this season: cornerback Christian Gonzalez. 

Gonzalez has not appeared in a recreation with the Patriots this season, with the All-Professional defensive again nonetheless sidelined resulting from a hamstring injury suffered in late July throughout coaching camp. 

However even with Gonzalez’s prolonged absence (and what has been a pattern of the 23-year-old nook getting hampered by numerous illnesses on the gridiron), Regulation believes that New England’s present defensive struggles intensify simply how important Gonzalez is to this franchise shifting ahead. 

“We’ve seen his worth, nevertheless it’s simply displaying much more when he’s not on the market on the sector,” Law said on WEEI on Tuesday. “It’s simply displaying, ‘I’m damage, they’ll’t change me.’ So, he’s simply including worth, and when he comes again they usually enhance, guess what? The Brinks truck goes to be backing up.”

Gonzalez might be due for a contract extension on the finish of this season, with the seventeenth choose within the 2023 NFL Draft in line for a major pay bump after establishing himself as one of many prime protection corners within the recreation final 12 months.

New England’s secondary has taken a large hit to this point this season with Gonzalez on the mend. 

By two video games, the Patriots are dead-last within the NFL in relation to passing yards allowed per recreation — with opponents averaging 315.0 yards per contest by the air in opposition to New England. 

Despite the fact that the Patriots’ revamped defensive unit has made sizable positive factors in relation to producing strain in opposition to the quarterback (a league-leading 9.0 sacks), New England desperately wants Gonzalez again within the secondary to snuff out a few of the explosive performs that the group has been susceptible to giving up. 

Gonzalez broke his silence Tuesday morning when requested about his restoration course of going into New England’s Week 3 matchup at house in opposition to the Pittsburgh Steelers. 

“We’re simply going day-by-day. Taking it a step at a time,” Gonzalez said on “Good Morning Football” on Tuesday. “Simply being within the constructing, sitting within the conferences, doing what I can. It’s been traumatic, nevertheless it’s all for a motive.”

Gonzalez has not appeared in a practice with New England since initially injuring his hamstring on July 28. 

 

Conor Ryan is a workers author protecting the Bruins, Celtics, Patriots, and Crimson Sox for Boston.com, a task he has held since 2023.