New England Patriots coach Mike Vrabel expects Christian Gonzalez to play in the season opener against the Seattle Seahawks, if healthy.
When appearing on The Greg Hill Show on Friday, Vrabel was asked about his expectations for Gonzalez in the first week of the regular season. The star cornerback is currently negotiating a contract extension with the team, and there have been fears that he would consider sitting out if the two sides can't agree on something before the start of the season.
Vrabel shut down concerns that Gonzalez skipped Tuesday's joint training camp practice with the Indianapolis Colts for contract reasons ahead of the preseason opener on Thursday. However, he took things a step further with his latest comments on the season.
“My expectation is that everybody that’s healthy, that’s ready to play for us, is gonna play. I’ve never even considered anything other than that," Vrabel said.
According to Vrabel, Gonzalez missed the joint training camp practice due to an injury that he suffered at Monday's team practice. So the expectation currently is that he will return when healthy.
That's good news for a Patriots team facing one of the hardest schedules in the NFL this season. They'll need all of the help they can get if they have any hope of avenging their Super Bowl LX loss by upsetting the Seahawks on the road in the opener.
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This article originally appeared on Patriots Wire: Mike Vrabel sets expectations for Christian Gonzalez's Week 1 status