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Patriots Will Be Without Key Player for Season-Openers vs. Raiders
Christian Gonzalez, the Patriots' young defensive back and one of the team's best players, will sit out the team's season-opener because of a hamstring injury he first suffered in July. Gonzalez missed practice this week and did not improve enough to be on the field when New England hosts the Raiders on Sunday.
Gonzalez, a former first round pick in the 2023 draft only played four games as a rookie, but last season he started 16 games and finished sixth on the team with 59 tackles and broke up a team-high 11 passes on his way to being named second-team All-Pro. Thanks to his excellent work at cornerback, the Patriots finished with the 10th-best passing defense in the league.
The Raiders will come into the game with what should be a much-improved passing attack this season with new coach Pete Carroll and quarterback Geno Smith, who finished with the fourth most passing yards in the NFL last season with the Seahawks.
Next week the Patriots will travel to Miami where they may face Tua Tagovailoa, Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle. Hopefully for New England Gonzalez will be ready to go by then.
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Stephen Douglas is a senior writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. He has worked in media since 2008 and now casts a wide net with coverage across all sports. Douglas spent more than a decade with The Big Lead and previously wrote for Uproxx and The Sporting News. He has three children, two degrees and one now unverified Twitter account.