{"id":88467,"date":"2025-09-05T08:54:58","date_gmt":"2025-09-05T08:54:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=88467"},"modified":"2025-09-05T08:57:01","modified_gmt":"2025-09-05T08:57:01","slug":"with-or-without-christian-gonzalez-patriots-are-confident-defense-will-be-more-than-up-to-the-challenge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=88467","title":{"rendered":"With or without Christian Gonzalez, Patriots are confident defense will be more than up to the challenge"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Christian<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re going to call our defense and play football,\u201d Williams explained. \u201cI mean, that\u2019s what this league\u2019s about.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been in this league awhile, and we\u2019ve had guys that we thought we were going to play and didn\u2019t play on game day. It comes right up to the last minute before you put the inactives in. [And] we\u2019ve still got a little bit of time before we play.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The 23-year-old Gonzalez, who was a second-team All-Pro last year and the Patriots\u2019 most talented defensive player, hasn\u2019t practiced since the last week of July. In his place, the Patriots have leaned heavily on veteran free-agency pickup Carlton Davis<\/b> on one side, while Alex Austin <\/b>or D.J. James<\/b> has been on the other.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe feel pretty good about our secondary, and really our whole defense,\u201d Williams said. \u201cThe guys have been working hard and doing the things that we need to do to try to win a football game on Sunday. Ultimately, that\u2019s what it\u2019s about.\u201d<\/p>\n

Davis, who acknowledged last month he\u2019s been dealing with health issues of his own, said the fact the Raiders have so many different faces \u2014 including veteran offensive coordinator Chip Kelly<\/b>, who\u2019s in his first season with Las Vegas \u2014 creates a significant amount of uncertainty.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019ve got a whole new system, so I don\u2019t think too many people know exactly what they\u2019re going to do,\u201d said Davis, who signed a three-year, $60 million contract with New England in the offseason. \u201cThere\u2019s kind of [an] idea<\/i>, but who knows what they\u2019re doing? They don\u2019t have a concept of what Chip Kelly\u2019s been doing in previous places.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut we do know they have some speed on the outside, and that [quarterback] Geno [Smith] loves to challenge you down the field. He\u2019s a quarterback who\u2019s confident in his arm. So I would imagine that they try to get their guys some plays.\u201d<\/p>\n

There is some level of comfortability with several members of the Raiders\u2019 offensive scheme. They\u2019ve faced Kelly\u2019s high-octane offense before in his previous NFL stops, as well as Smith, a veteran quarterback in his first year with the Raiders who\u2019s faced New England many times in the past. There\u2019s also some familiarity with Jakobi Meyers, a former Patriots who spent four seasons in New England before leaving as a free agent.<\/p>\n

One of the real unknowns is tight end Brock Bowers<\/b>, a pass catcher Williams calls \u201ca receiver in a tight ends body.\u201d The 6-foot-3-inch, 235-pounder is coming off a rookie year where he finished with 112 catches for 1,194 yards and five touchdowns.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe can catch the ball, he can block, he can make contested catches,\u201d said Williams, who wouldn\u2019t dismiss the idea of using a cornerback against him. \u201cHe can do everything.\u201d<\/p>\n

One of the things the 24-year-old Austin has done is go back and watch some of Kelly\u2019s work as head coach with the Eagles and Niners. There\u2019s also some personal Pac-12 history between the two, as Kelly was the head coach at UCLA while Austin was with Oregon State.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve just been watching a lot of old Chip Kelly film,\u201d said the 6-foot-1-inch, 191-pound Austin. \u201cMe, fortunately, I played him before in college so I\u2019m a little bit familiar with his scheme. But I\u2019m still watching a lot of his old tape from around the league, and then in college as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

Head coach Mike Vrabel<\/b> wouldn\u2019t put a potential timetable on a Gonzalez return, which means the Patriots\u2019 cornerback depth figures to be tested in multiple games out of the gate. Regardless of who is out there, everyone seems to feel good about the depth in the cornerback room.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhoever is going to play is going to keep the standard,\u201d Davis said when asked about Sunday\u2019s opener. \u201cThat\u2019s why they\u2019re here. That\u2019s why they made the 53-man roster.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe feel great with the depth in our room,\u201d said Austin. \u201cWe\u2019ve got a lot of guys who can go. Whoever the coaches feel comfortable with going out there as the next man up, we know that they\u2019re going to be ready and, and hold the standard to the standard. So we just look forward to going out there and competing this weekend.\u201d<\/p>\n

Others on the injury report<\/h2>\n

In addition to Gonzlaez, the Patriots had four other players on the injury report Thursday: offensive tackle Will Campbell<\/b> (ankle) and defensive tackle Christian Barmore <\/b>(not injury related) were listed as limited. In addition, wide receiver Efton Chism<\/b> (knee) and cornerback Charles Woods<\/b> (groin) were full participants \u2026 As for the Raiders, they listed cornerback Kyu Blu Kelly<\/b> (hamstring) and quarterback Kenny Pickett <\/b>(hamstring) as full participants.<\/p>\n

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Christopher Price can be reached at christopher.price@globe.com. Follow him on Bluesky at christopherprice.bsky.social.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If Gonzalez\u2019s hamstring does keep him on the shelf for Sunday\u2019s opener, defensive coordinator Terrell Williams expects the players on the field to step up.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":88469,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[28],"class_list":["post-88467","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl","tag-patriots"],"yoast_head":"\nWith or without Christian Gonzalez, Patriots are confident defense will be more than up to the challenge - NEWS USA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=88467\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"With or without Christian Gonzalez, Patriots are confident defense will be more than up to the challenge - 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