FOXBOROUGH - Time now for your daily Christian Gonzalez update (save the eye rolls). He was scheduled to speak with the media today (Saturday) and did so shortly after Mike Vrabel held his press conference. Nothing groundbreaking on Gonzalez’s end, although he continues to leave the door open for the possibility of not playing in Wednesday’s opener.
Here are the important questions and answers from both the cornerback and coach.
Q: Do you feel like there’s momentum to get a deal done?
“Like I said, I don't know.”
Q: Do you anticipate playing on Wednesday if you don’t have a new deal?
“I'm focused on today. Right now, this practice- in what, 30 minutes, 40 minutes? Worried on that right now, so we'll focus on that.”
Q: Would you ask for a trade/consider it?
“I mean, I'm here right now. I'm here. Like I said, I'm worried about this practice. Focused on this practice. I'll always be where my feet are and do what I got to do.”
Q: Would you continue to negotiate after week one?
“I feel like I've put this out there. I don't want to get into that with the media. You know, keep everything internal.”
Q: Was he troubled by his trainer (”Coach Flight”) speaking to the media?
“That's my guy. We both have two different opinions. He's a grown man. If he wants to talk to the media, he's gonna talk on the media. But he's my guy. I trust him with everything. He trusts me with everything. So we talk every day. So it wasn't like anything to me that was bad. Or I mean, he went and talked to them. So I talked to him maybe two hours after I came back and saw all that. So I mean, nothing crazy at all.”
Q: Do you wonder why this hasn’t been done, and if the team wants you?
“I mean, I don't know. I mean, I'm focused on today.”
Nothing particularly new, but Gonzalez continues to leave all options on the table, as he should. The threat of not playing in Seattle is arguably his last real leverage point, and I believe it is why Jeremy Fowler’s report from earlier in the week revealed that his side wouldn’t negotiate beyond week one. Of course, I’m not sure anyone truly believes that, but for now, that’s what is being communicated/leaked.
Meanwhile, Vrabel finds himself in a difficult spot. Despite some media chatter that the fourth-year pro isn’t a perfect personality fit for what the head coach desires, and maybe isn’t as physical (that’s been changing for the better dating back to the end of last season), everything I have heard and everyone that I’ve spoken to inside the building think the two men are in a good space. I think that was reflected in Vrabel’s answers regarding the situation and how to navigate it.
"I think it's an interesting dynamic; I've been on both sides," he said. “I think what's important for me is to try to communicate, to try to explain the players we really want to build around and have, and we've done that with Gonzo. Everybody knows that.
"I don't get involved in the negotiations per se, but I certainly want to be involved in trying to get the situation resolved. … It's a delicate balance that we have to wage, and I want to continue to prepare for Seattle and focus on all the things we have to do to beat an excellent team with our team and the players that we have."
Q: Is the situation frustrating for you?
“I wouldn't use the word frustrating, and again I appreciate how our players feel and their emotions, and I think that's part of life, but you know I can't let that be frustrating. I want to be able to coach him and help him improve as a player and a person, and help our football team and help our coaches.”
Q: Are you confident a deal gets done?
“I would say when it gets done, it's really what the confidence level is. There's no is it almost done? Is it not almost done? I don't want to deal with hypotheticals or speculation. Really, it's important to focus on Seattle. And again, I do appreciate and understand what you guys feel like is important. I know what's important for us is how we prepare, and this is a good football team. This is an excellent football team. Told our team if we don't play better than we played the last time we played them, you know we're we're gonna we're gonna struggle.”
Unsaid is how much the defense will struggle without Gonzalez, or if he is consciously or subconsciously not all in, even if he plays. This was a team that thrived defensively when they embraced an attacking mentality. The Pats' blitz percentage skyrocketed in the postseason (anywhere from 42% to 48%), and they embraced that style, trusting their cornerbacks to hold up in man coverage. Eliminating Gonzalez from that mix would put the likes of Charles Woods, Karon Prunty, Channing Canada, or Kindle Vildor in the spotlight. None have resumes that suggest they could handle that load, either because of inexperience or because they are what they are.
TAKE A SEAT (BUT FOR HOW LONG?)
The Raiders have decided to stick to their offseason plan and begin the year with veteran Kirk Cousins as their top quarterback, backed up by rookie Fernando Mendoza. Mendoza becomes the first quarterback selected number one overall since 2018 (Baker Mayfield) to open the season as a backup.
"[Cousins] played really good football," head coach Klint Kubiak said in making the announcement. "I'm happy with all three of our quarterbacks. Kirk's had a really good offseason, very good [training] camp, and he's earned it."
Cousins got the lion’s share of work with the first-team throughout the spring and summer, and performed well in the preseason.
Mendoza, on the other hand, had some really strong moments in the preseason, but his youth and inexperience in the Kubiak system - Cousins has played in it before - reared its head enough times that this was never really a full-on competition.
"[Mendoza's] time is coming, but he's got to earn it every day, and he knows that," general manager John Spytek said. "I think we're all very pleased with the person and his work ethic and his commitment to being a great quarterback."
From the sound of it, the Raiders may approach Mendoza’s regular-season practice reps in a similar manner the Patriots did during Drake Maye’s rookie campaign, when the Jerod Mayo regime gave the kid QB time with the ones. At the very least, Kubiak is aware of how important Mendoza’s development is for both the short and long term.
“You can build in young-guy reps into your practices,” he said. “There are things you can do. It’s never as good as getting all the reps in practice, but you do the best you can with what you got.”
Oh, by the way, minority owner Tom Brady’s influence, especially when it comes to quarterbacks - he is on the record many times about not throwing young signal callers to the wolves - is being felt in Vegas. Kubiak admitted they “lean on him for a lot of things.”
“Talk to him multiple times a week, and he’s been extremely helpful for roster building, for schematics, for team building,” Kubiak said. “You name it, he’s been helpful with it. More than helpful, an extremely impressive resource.”
TANK CITY?
Tua Tagovailoa.
Tyreek Hill.
Bradley Chubb.
Jaylen Waddle.
Jalen Ramsey.
What do those players have in common? They are the five biggest cap hits on the Miami Dolphins' 2026-27 roster. Oh, and none of them are actually on the team anymore. Toss in Minkah Fitzpatrick and Terron Armstead, also gone (Jets and retired), and you can see where this is going for the Fins.
"I think success is gonna be, it's not going to be measured in wins and losses this year,” head coach Jeff Hafley said. "And I know nobody wants to hear that. I want to see our team; I want to see where we end and how far we can take this thing and how much we develop these players … Success for me is going to be we go on that field, and we play so hard where even you turn it on and say, 'Man, those guys are flying around. They're playing together. They love each other. They're in this thing together,' and we're just growing and building and growing and building, and we'll see where this takes us.
"I'm just going to stay away from, like, the win-loss total. I just think this year is so much about developing who we are as a football team, finding the right guys, and then just by the end of the year, saying, 'You know what? We got something really powerful going forward."
The Dolphins don’t use the word rebuild. It’s not fair to the players on the roster or to the coaches and support staff working all hours. But the team’s actual payroll this year is $188 million. Per Over the Cap, that’s $68 million less than the next closest team in the league. They had 13 draft picks, and 12 of them have made the initial 53-man roster. They also claimed 7 players through the waiver process. What does that say about the team?
“Yeah, it's a good question,” GM Jon-Eric Sullivan said. “I think it says that we look at ourselves honestly and that any chance we get to get better, we're going to get better. We're not going to tell ourselves lies when things aren't getting done at the level that they need to get done, and we're going to continually turn over rocks to get better at every turn.”
For those interested, the sportsbooks have the team’s win total anywhere between 3.5 and 4.5.
WILD FOR WARD
On their third head coach since firing Mike Vrabel after the 2023 season, the Titans have revved up the hype machine for their second-year quarterback, Cam Ward.
Robert Saleh boldly stated, "This kid's not going to fail. Obviously, I put my job on that one, but he's not going to fail. He's special."
The top pick in the 2025 draft, Ward experienced the types of growing pains most young QBs do on a bad football team. In fact, Tennessee was so wretched that they dumped Brian Callahan during the year, replacing him with Mike McCoy (interim).
Now, it's on Saleh, along with new offensive coordinator Brian Daboll, to tap into Ward’s talents. Ward has a rocket arm and top-notch athleticism, but it was how he settled late in the year - 8 TDs and just one INT over the final five games - that gives Daboll something to build off of.
"With Cam, his job is to lead the offense and make good decisions with the football," Daboll said. " To get us out of bad plays if we don't have the right look, to make the right decisions on a play-by-play basis."
This summer has been uneven for Ward and the Titans offense. With the new system and additions at wide receiver and along the offensive line, there have been growing pains, but it’s clear that Daboll’s must-do list is penetrating his quarterback’s brain.
"Our goal for training camp is being efficient on first and second down," Ward said. "Stay out of third-and-long, because in third-and-5 or less, you pretty much know what they can play. They can still do something different. But when you get into third-and-6, third-and-7 to 10 plus, that's when you got to really key in on your protections.
"It's going to be deeper dropbacks. They know it's a dropback pass, so you're really playing at the defense's advantage."
Saying it and doing it, however, are two different things. There were times last year when Ward understood the assignment but failed to follow through. For instance, in the opener at Denver, telling on the sidelines I can’t and won’t take a sack with the Titans in field goal range, then taking one to knock them out.
"It comes back to time on task," Saleh said. "Trusting yourself, trusting your teammates, play within the rhythm, rhythm of the play, and get your feet in the ground and throw an accurate football. It sounds simple, but at the same time, we've got to be able to go do it and take it from practice to the game."
The Titans host the Jets in week one.