Patriots Veteran Sends Message To Christian Gonzalez After Strong Debut

FOXBORO, Mass. — Christian Gonzalez played his first official game in a Patriots uniform Sunday.

How did he look? So far, so good.

The first-round draft pick went wire to wire at cornerback in his regular-season NFL debut, playing every snap in New England’s 25-20 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles at Gillette Stadium.

Gonzalez tallied seven tackles, notched a key late-game pass breakup to foil a fourth-down conversion and even added his first career sack in an all-around impressive outing.

In coverage, the highly touted Oregon product generally held up well against a talented Eagles receiving corps. He spent much of the game matched up against two-time Pro Bowler A.J. Brown, who finished with seven catches for 79 yards.

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Veteran safety Jabrill Peppers said the Patriots will need more performances like Sunday’s from Gonzalez as his rookie season progresses.

“It says a lot about him, but we knew what kind of guy we were getting,” Peppers said after the game. “We’ve seen it in OTAs, camp. He’s a smart kid, ready to compete, and we need him to keep playing at that level.”

Peppers praised all three of of New England’s first-year defenders — Gonzalez, defensive end Keion White and safety/linebacker Marte Mapu — saying they “did a damn good job” in helping the Patriots limit Philadelphia’s explosive offense to one touchdown and four field goals.

White generated frequent pressure on quarterback Jalen Hurts, and Mapu showed off his versatility by playing multiple roles. On the first play of the fourth quarter, Gonzalez and Mapu both had tight coverage on Brown on a deep incompletion.

The Patriots appear to have found some solid young building blocks with their first three picks of the 2023 NFL Draft. But Peppers’ point about Gonzalez is an important one.

New England will face elite receivers on a near-weekly basis for the first half of their 2023 schedule, with Miami’s dynamic duo of Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle next on the docket. Hill had 11 receptions for 215 yards and two touchdowns in the Dolphins’ Week 1 victory over the Los Angeles Chargers, including the game-winning score in the final minutes.

The pressure will be on Gonzalez to limit those star pass-catchers, especially with fellow cornerback Jack Jones on injured reserve and unavailable for at least the first four weeks. The laid-back, soft-spoken rookie didn’t sound intimidated by that responsibility.

“Everybody in the league are great receivers,” Gonzalez said. “It’s my job to come out and try to do what I do, play what the defense needs me to do, have fun and learn.”