One of the many things that went wrong for the Patriots in 2023 was the loss of cornerback Christian Gonzalez in the early weeks of the regular season.
Gonzalez was the team’s first-round pick and he showed promise before tearing the labrum in his shoulder in Week Four. The injury forced Gonzalez to miss the rest of the year and he said on Tuesday that he is “just focusing on still rehabbing, strengthening the shoulder and just trying to get better” at this point in the offseason.
It’s not clear how much Gonzalez is going to do once the offseason program moves into the organized team activity stage, but he said he’s ready to leave the injury behind and move forward with his second season.
“That’s in the past,” Gonzalez said, via Andrew Callahan of the Boston Herald. “I’m ready for right now, and happy to be back in the building and around the guys.”
The Patriots will likely be leaning heavily on their defense in the early part of the season whether Jacoby Brissett or rookie Drake Maye wins the quarterback job, so a full return to health for Gonzalez will be a welcome development in New England.
