For obvious reasons, you may not want to see Cincinnati's Ja'Marr Chase play in Sunday's season opener against the Patriots, but Christian Gonzalez will not join you in hoping this on-again, off-again hold-in carries on through the weekend. Nope. Gonzalez wants the smoke from Chase and/or his talented teammate, Tee Higgins.
"It's a mentality," he told me earlier this week. "They're great receivers, amazing receivers. So, excited for the matchup, but you always got to look at it like, yeah, they're great receivers, but, you know, they got to see me, too."
That's the mentality you want from a player who, on paper, is your best cornerback. But that attitude is also prevalent behind the scenes, with multiple defenders telling me that Gonzalez lobbies to shadow the best wideout on opposing teams. The former first-rounder wants to be considered among the top players at his position.
"Yeah, for sure," he smiled broadly when I asked. "Everybody wants to be at the top of their position. I want that."
Of course, Gonzalez didn't get much experience doing that in his rookie season. It was truncated by a shoulder injury in week four that required season-ending surgery. But during the months upon months of rehab, he didn't sit around playing video games; instead, Gonzalez dove deeper into the game tape, not just of the Pats and their scheme, but of players at the position he admired and wanted to emulate.
"I watched a lot of Patrick Surtain," he said (the Denver CB just became the highest-paid player at the position). "That's a guy I try to model my game after. He's a great corner. I think every corner watches Jalen Ramsey. You take bits and pieces from everybody - these great players - on how they play and how I can learn from them."
Gonzalez also got first-hand experience with another of the game's best, training this off-season with Darius Slay. The Philadelphia corner is on the back nine but has made up for losing half-speed by sharpening his technique and mastering some of the tricks of the trade. A subtle grab here, a slight push there, and even in his 32-year-old season, Slay was still the best and most productive Eagles defensive back.
That work didn't pay immediate dividends for the 22-year-old at the start of the summer. In fact, Jerod Mayo went out of his way to publicly challenge Gonzalez. When I circled back with Mayo about that moment, the first-year head coach seemed satisfied with the player's response.
"He's handled it well," he said. "Look, Gonzo [Christian Gonzalez] is a man of few words, as we all know. But I'm just telling you, he has the skill set to be a premier corner in this league. I'm excited to see his continued growth and where it goes."
Where it needs to go is obvious. Gonzalez needs to become the player so many are projecting him to be. His ability is unquestioned, and the brief snippet we got of him last year confirmed that. But he must hold up to the rigors of a long season and a challenging schedule that will pit him against some of the best quarterbacks and wide receivers in the game today.
"Whatever the defense and the team needs me to be is who I'm gonna be," said Gonzalez to me as we finished up our conversation.
He's being coy. He knows what that is. Now, it's time to deliver on all that promise.
BIG OPPORTUNITY FOR DAMAR
For the first time since that fateful night on January 2nd, 2023, Damar Hamlin will start a football game for the Buffalo Bills.
Hamlin went into cardiac arrest that evening during a much-anticipated matchup at Cincinnati with the Bengals. The young safety's heart stopped, and only the work of the medical staff saved him. At the time, no one knew if he would ever be a functioning human being, never mind return to play the game he loved. But return Hamlin did, even if it was in a bit role for the Bills a season ago (he played in just five games).
In announcing the decision Wednesday, Bills coach Sean McDermott couldn't help but admire the 26-year-old.
"What else can't this young man do? He basically went through what he went through on the field; you guys have written about that over and over, and to come back from that. It's one thing to come back off of an ACL or a broken bone. It's another thing to come back off of what he came back off of, right? Let alone just to decide to play football and contact football in full pads at th NFL level."
This isn't to say that Hamlin will start all season. Buffalo has undergone a significant transition at the position, moving on from veterans Jordan Poyer and Micah Hyde, then dealing with one injury after another to players competing for a starting job opposite last year's third safety, Taylor Rapp. Former KC Chief Mike Edwards and rookie Cole Bishop were considered ahead of Hamlin on the depth chart, but both missed substantial time in training camp. Plus were things to go south, Hyde is still looming. Neither he nor the team have closed the door on a possible return. But for Hamlin to get to this point is a testament to who he is, and what he's become.
“I’m blessed for many reasons,” he said, “and I have a second chance at doing things the right way in all areas of my life.”
STAR TURN FOR C.J.
After submitting one of the best rookie seasons for a quarterback in NFL history, one teammate in particular thinks C.J. Stroud is ready to take the next step.
"He know(s) he the one," Stefon Diggs told GQ. "He's one of those kids that can be the MVP, and I'm saying that wholeheartedly. I don't gas."
Stroud was the Offensive Rookie of the Year, throwing for over 4,100 yards, 23 touchdowns, and just 5 interceptions while leading the Texans to the playoffs. His head coach, DeMeco Ryans, sees a quarterback with even greater control in year two.
"C.J.'s command has grown, just how he communicates," said Ryans. "In the huddle, you communicate with confidence; in a huddle, he has just been more vocal. When you do it right for the second time around, it's a lot more easier. The verbiage of our offense hasn't changed, so it's easier for him to understand what we're calling and communicate that with confidence. He's doing that."
Stroud welcomes a couple of new playmakers into that huddle: Diggs and running back Joe Mixon. Those two join an offense with emerging stars Nico Collins and Tank Dell and security blanket Dalton Schultz.
"I'm very excited," said Stroud. "I think we got to see glimpses at training camp, but now it's full go. Now it's time to roll, and those guys are two of the most competitive guys I've ever been around, and really two of the most joyful guys who just love playing ball, love showing up to work every day, and being around the guys."
Stroud will have to manage those egos (that's a lot of mouths to feed) and heightened expectations. He and the Texans kick off the season in Indianapolis on Sunday against fellow 2023 first-round QB Anthony Richardson.
FINS ARE FEELING IT
"This is our best team we've had since we've been here. What a time to be alive, to be a Dolphins fan." - Tyreek Hill, hype man/star wide receiver.
Very few teams are feeling themselves here in early September quite like the Miami Dolphins. The organization gave massive extensions to quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, Hill, Jaylen Waddle, and head coach Mike McDaniel. They are getting edge rusher Jaelen Phillips back for week one against Jacksonville after a mid-season Achilles tear. All that, plus familiarity with the system, have the Fins feeling like this is the year for a postseason breakthrough, although not without the need for some ego sublimation.
"Yeah, 100 percent," said fullback Alec Ingold when asked about Hill's boast. "I mean top down, I think you have playmakers, and it's going to expose new challenges that we have to deal with as a team.
"All of this explosiveness, all of this talent, how can we come together? And I think that's going to be the journey of our team is how we can lean on one another, how we can be accountable to one another because we don't need one single person to carry this load. We got a lot of guys on both sides of the ball that can do that when their number is called."
The Dolphins were rolling for much of last season but then hit their typical late-season swoon, dropping four of their final six games, including a week 18 home date with the Bills that would have won them the AFC East; instead, they had to go to KC in sub-Artic temperatures and got smacked, 26-7. Will this year be different? Get back to me in December because I have no doubt it will look good for them out of the gate.
DO WHAT YOU DO
Brian Daboll made his reputation as an elite playcaller, especially in recent years at the University of Alabama and then in Buffalo, helping fast-forward Josh Allen's development. That got him the head coaching job in New York with the Giants in 2022, and in his first season there, Daboll led the GMen to the playoffs and was named Coach of the Year.
Year two, however, was messy. The Giants went 6-11, Daniel Jones regressed and got hurt twice, including a season-ender, and Daboll's sideline demeanor drew severe critique, even from within the organization. So, after an off-season of unrest and speculation and the possibility that he may be coaching for his job, the former Patriots assistant is returning to his roots. He will call plays after handing over those duties to offensive coordinator Mike Kafka for the last two years (although various reports say Daboll took away those responsibilities more than once last year).
"Yeah, I'm doing it," said Daboll, adding, "We've talked about this before. Almost everybody in the league does it that's an offensive head coach."
The 49-year-old isn't lying. Fourteen of the 18 head coaches with offensive backgrounds call their own plays, and the last time Daboll did, albeit as an OC, the Bills were 2nd in total offense.
Jones, his beleaguered QB, likes how the transition has gone.
"We've had a lot of communication over the past few years in meeting rooms and as we game plan throughout the week," he said. "I feel like I have a good feel for how he sees the game and how he calls the game. Obviously, we've spent a lot of time since the spring together. I've got a lot of confidence and feel good about us being on the same page. I'm excited to be out there."
The Giants host the Vikings on Sunday.
WELCOME TO THE NFL
Bo Nix is one of three rookie quarterbacks starting on opening day (Caleb Williams and Jayden Daniels are the others). Not that there's such a thing as a soft landing in the NFL, but Nix's first four games are against head coaches with big-time defensive reputations: Mike Macdonald in Seattle, Pittsburgh's Mike Tomlin, Tampa's Todd Bowles, and Robert Saleh in New York. Good luck, kid.
"It's difficult to play that position," said Broncos head coach Sean Payton. "I've said this before, it's certainly tough if you're having trouble defensively or if you're having trouble running the football. ... You get a young player like Bo Nix, there are certain skill sets he has - strengths and weaknesses. Hopefully, we will build on the strengths and then really minimize the things that a young player might face to open up the start of the season."
Nix had an excellent summer, although beating out Jarrett Stidham and Zach Wilson is not some great accomplishment. But the 24-year-old rookie was decisive, accurate, and showed good command of a complex offense. Plus, he's no dummy. Nix is hanging on every word Payton and the other coaches say.
"Right now, as a rookie, I don't have a whole lot of say," he acknowledged. "I just go in there and do what I'm told, but I will give it to the coaches, from Coach Payton down. They've been very intrigued with what I've been good at in the past and my strengths. They're trying to play to those. At the same time, he's been doing this for almost 20 years, so he's going to be doing what he's comfortable with. It's my job to go out there and execute what he calls."
NERD NUMBERS
- At least one team has won its division after finishing last or tied for last the season prior in 19 of the previous 21 years (did not occur in 2014 or 2019). The Texans were the latest, winning the AFC South in 2023-24 after finishing last (3-13-1) the year prior.
- There are eight new head coaches in 2024. There have been at least five new head coaching hires in the last 13 seasons. Only one, Houston's Ryans, led his team to the playoffs.
- This will be the 10th straight season in which 10 (or more teams) will roll out a new starting quarterback from the previous year's opening-day starter. That's the longest such streak since the stats have been tracked (1950).
- Will the Chargers get the Jim Harbaugh bump? He has a 44-19-1 record in the NFL (5th-highest HC win % in NFL history, min. 60 games), never had a losing record during his four seasons as the 49ers HC, and went to the NFC Championship in 3 of his 4 seasons there.