FOXBOROUGH - Next Gen Stats didn’t start tracking passing yards allowed by a single defender until 2018. But their data on Christian Gonzalez’s performance Sunday against the Packers would make even the biggest believer in him and the Patriots queasy.
The highest-paid cornerback in football allowed 187 yards, including 80+ to two different pass catchers, Matthew Golden and Christian Watson. NGS has never charted that in its history.
Sometimes it's just not your night, and it wasn't Christian Gonzalez's night at all yesterday. In really good position here until he trips. Sweet adjustment to the ball by Golden https://t.co/gtiL6UDkpm
— JP Acosta (@acosta32_jp) November 9, 2026
Filthy throw and catch by Love and Matthew Golden. Love hitting this fadeaway jumper off straight dropback under center is sick, and Golden's speed and separation skills to beat Gonzalez here are A1 https://t.co/BqXZnoODpe
— JP Acosta (@acosta32_jp) November 9, 2026
In his first six games, Gonzalez surrendered 196. But more to the point, he hasn’t looked/performed like the same player he was before suffering a shoulder injury in that Week 3 loss to the Jaguars. What in the wide world of sports is happening? I asked Mike Vrabel during his Monday morning press conference.
“You can’t take a nap in this league,” Vrabel said. “And you have to be — whoever the receivers are, especially the good ones, you have to play with great technique. You have to challenge when you can. Same things that happen with all DBs, right? When you look back at the quarterback sometimes — and they’re going to catch passes — it’s just, they have to earn it.
“Christian had a few plays I’m sure that he’d like to have back, and I said this: We have high expectations for him, and he certainly does too. So, I think it’s about answering the challenge in this week and then coming back. To play corner in this league, you've got to have a short memory, whether that’s on the good plays or the negative ones, and I’m confident that he will.”
“Nap? That’s a damning word from the head coach, especially for a player whose competitiveness was questioned when he entered the NFL draft in 2023, even more so with how some viewed Gonzalez’s postgame press conference.
Full disclosure: I was sitting right there in front of him. Gonzalez seemed to spend half the time smirking at questions or while answering. Having been around him since coming into the league, as odd as it may sound/read, that’s just his face. If you go back to his media availabilities during his contract dispute, it’s no different. So I don’t read anything into that. His answers were matter-of-fact.
“I know the team counts on me,” Gonzalez said on Sunday. “The defense counts on me. It hurts to let them down, but it’s football. At the end of the day, it’s one game. I had a bad game. I’ll watch it and be ready for Detroit.”
What else would you like him to say? Do you want tears? One-word answers? No comments? Bottom line, Gonzalez needs to play better.
“I mean, you just can’t take a play off or think that they’re not going to challenge you or throw the ball at you,” Vrabel said when asked what he meant by the word ‘nap’. “That’s it. You think that you’re going to not draw attention, I mean, the quarterbacks in this league, the skill players in this league, they run a route and they have a read, and if it’s open or they like the look, they’re gonna take it.
“I’m confident with