Christian Gonzalez practice absence raises questions amid ongoing contract talks

When the New England Patriots took the Gillette Stadium fields on Tuesday for their joint session with the Indianapolis Colts, Christian Gonzalez was nowhere to be seen. The star cornerback did not make a late entry either; for the first time this training camp, he missed practice.

Gonzalez’s absence comes in light of his ongoing contract negotiation with the Patriots. Naturally, it raised questions whether or not the two were related.

According to a report by Greg Bedard of the Boston Sports Journal, they were not. Gonzalez apparently sat out the session due to a “minor injury sustained at the end of Monday’s practice.”

The 24-year-old appeared to hurt his ankle during that particular session, trying to defend a touchdown pass from Drake Maye to Romeo Doubs. He did not receive any medical attention on the field and left the session with no obvious limitation.

Speculation nonetheless ran high on Tuesday, especially with Gonzalez seemingly throwing oil on the fire on social media later during the day:

The post captioned with the phrase “Should have been done by now” appears to be a potential reference to contract talks that have been going on for multiple months without any results. And if Ian Rapoport of NFL Network is to be believed, no conclusion to the saga is in sight yet.

“It’s interesting to me that yesterday they agreed to terms with Hunter Henry on a new contract extension, and then the next day Christian Gonzalez is not practicing,” Rapoport said on Tuesday. “There’s a good chance [Devon] Witherspoon gets done, I think. I don’t know about Gonzalez, whether it’s going to be this year or next year. But, the timing is certainly something that I took note of today and is interesting.”

Tight end Hunter Henry, who is being represented by the same agency as Gonzalez, put his signature under a two-year, $16 million extension on Monday. The team captain was scheduled to enter free agency next March; Gonzalez remains signed through 2027 after the team exercised the fifth-year option in his rookie contract earlier this offseason.

According to Patriots owner Robert Kraft, however, the team has a record-breaking contract on the table for the fourth-year defender just waiting to be signed. Gonzalez replied to Kraft’s statement by saying that “we don’t want to handle [it] in the media.”

His teammates, meanwhile, are trying to go about their business as usual even with Gonzalez missing from practice.

“As great as Gonzo is, we have an expectation on our team in general that there is no drop-off,” said safety Dell Pettus on Tuesday. “Everybody’s expected to come in and compete at the highest level that they’re able to compete at. We love having Gonzo out there and if he’s just not able to go for whatever reason it is that day, whoever comes in next is supposed to come in and be held at the same level as he is. Love Gonzo, need him out here every day we can, but whoever’s next up, we expect the same greatness out of them.”

With the Patriots holding a closed-doors walkthrough on Wednesday, Gonzalez’s next possible public appearance could come on Thursday night during the preseason opener against the Colts.