New England Patriots - NESN.com
Time will tell whether Christian Gonzalez plays for the Patriots this Sunday, but the star cornerback took a step in the right direction on Wednesday.
Gonzalez suffered a concussion during New England’s wild-card win over the Los Angeles Chargers last Sunday. His status for the divisional-round matchup against the Houston Texans remains up in the air.
However, Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel began Wednesday’s news conference by revealing he expected Gonzalez to participate in practice.
“I do anticipate him being out there,” Vrabel told reporters.
Gonzalez later was spotted wearing a red non-contact jersey during the media-access portion of practice.
We won’t know Gonzalez’s official participation status until the Patriots release their first divisional-round injury report on Wednesday afternoon. Regardless, Gonzalez must clear concussion protocol before gameday, and there’s no guarantee he’ll do so even if he practices in a limited capacity on Wednesday.
The Texans are dealing with a similar issue, as star receiver Nico Collins suffered a concussion during his team’s wild-card win over the Pittsburgh Steelers on Monday. His status for this weekend also is unclear.
New England and Houston are scheduled to kick off from Gillette Stadium at 3 p.m. ET on Sunday. The winner will face the Denver Broncos or Buffalo Bills in the AFC Championship Game.
