The Summer of Hope Continues as the Patriots Get Great News on Their Best Player
Less than 24 hours ago, there was a great disturbance in the Force. Like millions of voices crying out and then, being silenced.
When Christian Gonzalez, the Patriots best defensive player and current most talented player on the roster, period, limped off the field toward the medical tent, it felt like a lot of the wind came out of metaphorical sails that had been experiencing nothing full gusts and a following sea since the day Mike Vrabel got hired and began he work of righting this ship. (I'm going to drop the boat metaphors because I've run out of nautical jargon. On the rare occasion I do sail, I just drink and quote Master and Commander as much as they'll let me.) I didn't bury the lede yesterday talking about Gonzo's injury, I'm not going to waste any more time delivering the good news:
Hamstring issues are no bargain. They can become reoccurring and a royal pain in the … well, hamstring. Anyone who watched Aqib Talib play at an elite level for the entire time he was in New England only to pull up lame at the most inopportune time doesn't need to be told what losing your CB1 can do to a defense.
And while my medical knowledge on the topic is limited to the crippling hammy pull I suffered from insufficient stretching during softball four summers ago:
… I'm expert enough to know that when your lockdown corner is limping off the field in late July, a soft-tissue injury is the best possible scenario. Which is apparently what we witnessed Monday, assuming this report is accurate. Which I am choosing to believe.
I don't need to be reminded injuries are going to happen on this team. On God's injury report, we're all listed as day-to-day, and all that. But Gonzalez's would've been particularly brutal. First, because he was the undisputed best thing to happen on a defense that even with him shutting down every opponent's primary weapon, still managed to give up the 11th most points and 11th most yards in the league. Of course Mike Vrabel made upgrades on all three levels of this unit, but success is going to begin with Gonzalez doing what he did last year. The NFL's worst pass rush (last in sacks, last in sack %) has been improved with additions like Milton Williams and Harold Landry and the return of Christian Barmore. But if the front-7 is relying on Alex Austin and all 5-foot-8 of Marcus Jones (all due respect to both) to stay with Garrett Wilson and Tyreek Hill long enough for them to get off their blocks, then 2025 will be over before it starts.
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By way of example, in Gonzalez's first season of 2023, he was crushing it over the first three weeks of the season. Then was lost for the year in Week 4 against Dallas after only 18 snaps. With him, Steve Belichick's defense was giving up less than 20 points per game. Without him? That number ballooned to 31. Despite a 3-game stretch where they gave up just 26 points. (While going 0-3. Holy cats, we've had some lean years.) I'm not arguing he's statistically worth 11 points a game. But he's worth a number a lot higher than zero.
So breathe a sigh of relief, New England. Go back to enjoying the Summer of Hope once again. Your top player just needs to rest up, take as much time as 40 days until the Raiders game will allow. And learn how to stretch more effectively than an aged blogger who hadn't been in a softball league in 20 years. Our long, regional nightmare is over.