Christian Gonzalez Holds Out Of Joint Eagles Practice

By Steve Atkinson 

The Eagles were in Foxborough for joint practice with the Patriots.  It seems Jalen Hurts misses AJ Brown on the field at least. Hurts struggled with the offense.  Meanwhile, Drake Maye shined alongside AJ Brown, Kayshon Boutte, and Demario Douglas. On Thursday during RedZone drills, the Eagles’ defense was better.  However, overall, the Patriots won the last public practice of the summer. They will now prepare to play a game Saturday night.

Patriots Christian Gonzalez Holdout

Christian Gonzalez is still aiming to be the highest-paid cornerback in the league.  That is why we didn’t see him out there this week or even last week. I don’t buy he’s injured.  If anything, he’s hurt because Robert Kraft won’t give a little more, even though Kraft did say at the beginning of camp they offered Gonzalez the highest contract in Patriots history.

Out of the 11 players drafted in 2023, Gonzalez is the last to get a second contract, either with New England or somewhere else next year. All those years of thinking it was Belichick not giving or going the extra mile for a player and offering him a contract—turns out it was ownership all along.

Get Ready For A Kindle Vildor With Gonzalez out

Wouldn’t you hate for this Gonzalez contract situation to carry into the season? Even if it’s resolved before then, he just missed three joint practices, and they’re playing an untested Browns team next week to finish the preseason. There isn’t much time to prepare for the opener on September 9th in Seattle.

Will you see a full Christian Gonzalez or just a half version? I think, based on his actions and the team’s stance, it’ll be a half version whether he gets paid or not. He’s working hard to earn that money, and once he does, he’ll probably relax a bit and let up some plays. If he doesn’t get paid, you might see a half-Christian Gonzalez—weeks off, claiming ‘injury’ due to his contract situation. Get ready for Kindle Vildor; that should be interesting.

Here is Drake Maye after the joint practice with the Eagles, talking about working with AJ Brown.

Yeah, I think anytime a receiver like that, who carries that much weight, and just finding ways to get him the football, and like I said, all the time, I try to get the ball into their hands because they make me look good, and that is the number one thing with A.J. He has made a lot of plays in his career, taking it the distance on crossing routes and making great catches on deep balls, and he is another leader in the huddle, too. I think that is one of the biggest things with A.J. He’s got this demeanor and respect from the team that he just walked in with because of the player he has been, and I think he has taken that head on, and I really respect the way he goes about his work.

You do have to give the Patriots credit for helping Drake Maye. They’ve invested in the offensive line and, over two years, have gotten a dynamic receiver. If Bill Belichick were still here, that wouldn’t have happened.