On Friday, Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel addressed the media after his team’s final practice before Sunday’s Week 6 game against the Saints (1-4) in New Orleans.
As has become his modus operandi during these Friday media sessions, Vrabel kicked things off with a reading of the injury distinctions heading into the weekend:
OUT:
- Jaylinn Hawkins
- Anfernee Jennings
- Keion White
QUESTIONABLE:
- Christian Gonzalez
- Marte Mapu
- Charles Woods
Yes, you read that name in bold correctly, as the third-year cornerback spent the week limited at practice this week as he continues dealing with a bothersome hamstring - the same one he pulled on July 28 that kept him off the field all the way through the first three weeks of the regular season.
Vrabel was asked if his All-Pro corner suffered a setback at some point in the last few days to trigger this distinction heading into Week 6.
Despite the validity of the question, Vrabel didn’t want to get into specifics.
“Christian will be ‘questionable’ for the game,” Vrabel said in response to the setback question. “We'll continue to monitor him and see where that goes, and try to make a decision at 10:30 Central Time, 90 minutes before the game.
“So that's where we're at, and we'll have to have a plan if he doesn't go, and we'll have a plan if he does go, just like everybody else.”
In a follow-up, Vrabel was asked what Gonzalez’s participation level was during Friday’s practice. And again, the head coach opted to keep things vague - this time, through the guise of pleading ignorance.
“I don't know the particulars,” said Vrabel. “I just write down the designation. That'll be out - the participation will be out shortly. I don't want to misspeak. I just give you the designation for the game. I don’t want to say ‘limited’ or ‘full’ and have it not be one of those two.”
“So is that workload for him then more [head athletic trainer] Jim Whalen’s department?” asked The Boston Herald’s Andrew Callahan in a follow-up. “How much of that decision is on your plate, limited versus full?”
“Well, it's on my plate,” said Vrabel. “But how it goes in - there's different tempos on a Friday. We've got some speed periods and some jog-through periods. And so by the rules, I would say that - by the letter of the law, you have to list it if it's every single thing and every single rep, then it's full, right?
“So maybe he took one less than he took last - I don't you know. I mean, I'm not trying to be funny here. We're gonna monitor and see how he feels. And if he feels good to go, and confident, which I hope that he is, then he's going to play the game. But I just don't want to say he was limited or he was full, and then you guys be like, ‘Well, you not speaking truthfully.’”
After not being listed on the injury report at all on Wednesday, Gonzalez was listed as a limited participant on Thursday, which was evident from the portion of practice open to the media that day.
Cornerbacks coach Justin Hamilton downplayed what the media saw when speaking with reporters on Thursday, describing Gonzalez’s limited participation as a pre-determined plan with Vrabel, Whalen and director of sports performance Frank Piraino.
“It’s kind of a warm-up,” said Hamilton during his regular every-other-week availability. “The early portion of practice, just to do more. Because some of the stuff is special teams or things where it’s like jog-through, walk-through, so it’s for him to be able to get to the pace he can go at to be able to go out there when we are in the speed periods of practice.”
Whether what we saw from Gonzalez on Thursday was pre-planned or not, he’s been given the questionable distinction for Sunday, leaving the possibility of the 23-year-old missing his fourth game through six weeks of the regular season.
The Saints have a quarterback in Spencer Rattler who loves to huck the ball down the field, and receivers in Chris Olave and Rashid Shaheed fully capable of taking the top off the defense. With Hawkins out at safety and Gonzalez possibly missing-in-action, this New Orleans trio could be in for a big afternoon.
The Saints’ W-L record might not look great on paper, but Gonzalez’s presence would be more-than-welcomed by a Patriots (3-2) team trying to avoid a trap game after their thrilling 23-20 upset of the Bills in Week 5.
As of publishing, this distinction hasn’t had an impact on the odds for Sunday, as the Patriots are still a 3.5-point road favorite at FanDuel. You can get them on the moneyline at -184, and the total remains at 45.5.
Tune in each and every Monday throughout the football season to Patriots Monday on WEEI. Head coach Mike Vrabel joins The Greg Hill Show at 6:30 a.m. ET, and quarterback Drake Maye joins WEEI Afternoons.