The Patriots’ 2023 season is off to a sluggish begin, however first-round choose Christian Gonzalez definitely shouldn’t be.
The 21-year-old Oregon product has had only a few missteps whereas going through off in opposition to among the NFL’s finest broad receivers. On Sunday, he matched up in opposition to Jets broad receiver Garrett Wilson and — by means of some assist from the inept play of quarterback Zach Wilson — principally erased him within the 15-10 win.
Garrett Wilson caught simply 5 passes on 9 targets for 48 yards within the contest. Gonzalez additionally had a move breakup in opposition to Jets wideout Allen Lazard.
Gonzalez allowed three catches on 4 targets for 18 yards to Garrett Wilson and two catches on three targets for 27 yards to Lazard, per PFF. He let up only one first down all recreation.
“Well, one of the best things about Christian, especially at that position, is he’s very even-keeled,” Bill Belichick instructed WEEI’s The Greg Hill Show on Monday morning. “He’s not overly emotional one way or another. He’s got a good, calm demeanor. A lot like [Stephon] Gilmore did.”
Belichick isn’t evaluating Gonzalez as a participant to Gilmore, however the rookie appears to be trending that method in his efficiency by means of three weeks. But Patriots gamers have commented on how quiet Gonzalez is far in the identical method teammates did about Gilmore when he performed on the Patriots from 2017 to 2021. Gilmore was the NFL’s defensive participant of the yr in 2019. Now a member of the Cowboys, Gilmore will face the Patriots this Sunday in Dallas.
Gonzalez has allowed simply 15 passes on 22 targets for 148 yards with an interception and two move breakups this season, per PFF. He’s PFF’s third-highest-graded certified cornerback and highest-graded rookie conerback this season.
The Patriots have been lacking three of their prime 5 cornerbacks in Sunday’s win over the Jets with Jonathan Jones out with an ankle harm and 2022 draft picks Marcus Jones and Jack Jones on injured reserve. That left Gonzalez and Myles Bryant to start out outdoors. Bryant kicked inside to the slot and security when Shaun Wade entered the sport.
“Yeah, I thought our secondary really competed well,” Belichick mentioned Monday morning on a video convention name. “Yeah, Shaun, Myles, they had several good plays. Myles had a couple really good reads, and took away a couple routes that [Zach] Wilson didn’t end up throwing that if he had thrown them, they might’ve been picked off. The safeties, Pep [Jabrill Peppers], Kyle [Dugger], AP [Adrian Phillips], [Jalen] Mills, they all helped. Kyle and Pep had a lot of production, a lot of tackles and they were around the ball a lot. The secondary did a good job.”
Zach Wilson was simply 18-of-36 for 157 yards. He was sacked 3 times. Bryant and Wade every gave up one catch on two targets for 12 yards. Bryant was additionally charged with a pass-interference penalty.
Source: www.bostonherald.com