New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel has nothing but praise for cornerback Christian Gonzalez.
The Patriots will face the Los Angeles Chargers in the wild-card round on Sunday. Coming into the fight, Vrabel liked the way Gonzalez played, especially his physicality.
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“I think he’s a big corner, it’s just a confidence level,” Vrabel said Monday. “He’s strong, he’s got good size and strength. And he’s got to be more than just a quick, athletic corner. It’s hard to argue that corners in this league don’t need to tackle. When they get the football handed to them, they’re going to have to tackle.”
“We don’t expect them to play every game, but sometimes they have to do it, they have to make quick substitutions, they have to close the distance, they have to get their feet set and make tackles. You can also look at it the other way around, we were able to go out or get some defenders and they missed tackles and those turned into X number of plays. So, I applaud Gonzo (Christian Gonzalez) for doing that.”
The Patriots selected Gonzalez with the 17th overall pick in 2023, and he has been a shutdown corner since entering the NFL.
According to PFF, Gonzalez had a catch rate of 46.1% on the year, third-worst in the league, and only gave up one touchdown. The star cornerback also finished with 57 tackles and seven breakups.
Gonzalez will play a key role in the Patriots’ defense against the Chargers on Sunday. Kickoff is scheduled for Sunday at 8 p.m. ET.
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