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The New England Patriots will have to finish their do-or-die game against the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday without a valuable asset after Christian Gonzalez suffered a head injury.
The Patriots announced on X that Gonzalez is questionable to return to the wild-card tussle at Gillette Stadium.
.@Patriots Injury Update: CB Christian Gonzalez (head) is questionable to return. pic.twitter.com/LMTKNlVhXn
— Patriots Communications (@PatriotsComms) January 12, 2026
He logged two passes defended before exiting.
Gonzales was defending against Quentin Johnston when both of them fell to the field. Johnston’s body then fell on Gonzalez’ head as the pass fell incomplete.
While losing the 23-year-old cornerback was a tough blow for the Patriots’ defense, they managed to hold on and defeat the Chargers, 16-3.
The Patriots, who are back in the playoffs after a three-year absence, moved past the wild-card round for the first time since winning the Super Bowl in 2019.
New England is now waiting for the winner between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Houston Texans in their wild-card clash on Monday.
The second-seeded Patriots had a lethargic start against the seventh-seeded Chargers, but they regrouped at halftime and did enough after the break to get the victory.
Drake Maye went 17-of-29 for 268 yards and one touchdown. He threw an interception and got sacked five times. It was not his best performance, but he came up big in the final quarter, throwing a 28-yard touchdown to Hunter Henry, to finish off Los Angeles.
The Patriots are in danger of losing Gonzalez for the next few days if he enters the league’s concussion protocoal. Fans can only hope that he will be ready to go in the divisional round.
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