Patriots’ All-Pro Christian Gonzalez flashes in first open practice of spring
FOXBORO The Patriots entered the offseason with two bona fide bankable stars in quarterback Drake Maye and cornerback Christian Gonzalez Tuesday in the Patriots first practice open to the media of the spring one of those players made life more complicated for the other at organized club events Gonzalez picked off Maye twice in the second-year quarterback s first eight throws Gonzalez took advantage of what appeared to be miscommunication on his first interception His second was on a target to rookie wide receiver Kyle Williams Related Articles Mike Vrabel confirms Patriots two joint practice opponents Patriots OTA preview What we re looking for in first Pats practices Patriots DL Christian Barmore expects to play Week opens up about blood clots Callahan The best worst and toughest Patriots games on the schedule thoughts on Patriots NFL schedule release It was two different coverages both where I got to see the quarterback so that helps as a DB Gonzalez stated Saw the ball and then went and got it Gonzalez was one of the scarce bright spots in a season Patriots fans would largely like to forget last season He ranked th among qualified cornerbacks in PFF s overall defensive grading last season and he was th in coverage grade allowing catches on targets for yards and two touchdowns with two interceptions and seven pass breakups The Oregon product was a Pro Bowl snub but earned second-team All-Pro honors for his efforts last season He was passed over again this offseason when PFF named their under rankings Five cornerbacks did make the list the Chiefs Trent McDuffie the Texans Derek Stingley Jr the Seahawks Devon Witherspoon the Bills Christian Benford and the Eagles Cooper DeJean Let the play talk That s all I have to say about that Gonzalez informed the Herald about the snub from PFF Gonzalez is grateful to be fully healthy at the start of OTAs this season His rookie year ended prematurely with a torn labrum four games into the season Just getting back healthy getting back ready to come back and be ready to go Gonzalez mentioned about his biggest focus this offseason And also just kind of trying to going into Year we got a pretty young room Bringing in CD Carlton Davis helps but trying to take that next step and be one of the guys who people can come talk to The Patriots signed Davis to play opposite Gonzalez at cornerback They have the probable to be one of the top cornerback duos in the NFL It s gonna be awesome just learning and playing with CD Gonzalez commented I mean he s been in it he s played in the Super Bowl so he s seen it at the highest level He s done it So that s only not great for me but for the whole room to just have his voice in there and just pick up tips from him anything he can learn from us we can learn from him And you know just chopping it up piggybacking ideas how we play certain things it s gonna be awesome Gonzalez also has a new head coach in Mike Vrabel defensive coordinator in Terrell Williams and position coach in Justin Hamilton He noted the defense is still getting acclimated to a new system but he s enjoyed his time with Hamilton It s been really fun getting to know him All the corners we re all real close That corner room is pretty much the exact same from last year just minus a couple people but So we ve all been real close so we re all learning each other and he s bringing resource He s kind of like me I mean we re both pretty low-key He s not a coach that s gonna get to yelling and doing all that but it s been fun I m excited to continue to work with him Beyond Gonzalez and Davis the Patriots brought back Marcus Jones Alex Austin Miles Battle Isaiah Bolden Marcellas Dial and D J James at cornerback They selected Kobee Minor in the seventh round of the NFL Draft and signed Brandon Crossley and Jordan Polk as undrafted free agents Gonzalez Davis and Jones appear like roster locks Austin Battle Bolden Dial James Minor Crossley and Polk will compete for two or three more spots on the roster
