After missing most of training camp due to a hamstring injury, Christian Gonzalez returned for Weeks 4 and 5 and largely looked like his usual self in a pair of New England Patriots victories. And, after not appearing on the injury report for all of last week and this Wednesday, the star corner seemingly had fully recovered from the hamstring issue.
Well, Gonzalez then was listed as a limited participant on [Thursday _and_ Friday’s injury reports](https://nesn.com/?p=2045775&preview=true), and now carries a “questionable” designation for Sunday’s road game against the New Orleans Saints.
Conventional wisdom indicates Gonzalez must’ve suffered a setback, but Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel offered no valuable insight while meeting with reporters on Friday. Vrabel began the session by announcing that Gonzalez was among three players with the “questionable” designation.
Check out this transcript from Vrabel’s news conference, which happened _before_ Gonzalez was listed as limited on the injury report.
**Reporter:** “Can you clarify — Christian wasn’t on the injury report last week. Did he suffer some kind of a setback?”
Story continues below advertisement
**Vrabel:** “Christian will be questionable for the game. We’ll continue to monitor him and see where that goes. We’ll try to make a decision at 10:30 a.m. Central Time, 90 minutes before the game. That’s where we’re at, and we’ll have to have a plan if he doesn’t go, and we’ll have a plan if he does go. Just like everybody else.”
**Reporter:** “Was he a full participant today?”
What do you think? [Leave a comment.](javascript:void(0))
**Vrabel:** “I don’t know the particulars. I just write down the designation. The participation will be out shortly. I don’t want to misspeak. I just give you the designation for the game. I don’t want to say limited or full and have it not be one of those two.”
Story continues below advertisement
**Reporter:** “So, is that workload for him more (trainer) Jim Whalen’s department? How much of that decision is on your plate — limited versus full?”
**Vrabel:** “It’s on my plate. … There’s different tempos on a Friday. We’ve got some speed periods. And some jog through periods. And so, by the rules, I would say that by the letter of the law, you have to list — if it’s every single thing and every single rep, then it’s full. So, maybe he took one less than he took last Friday. I don’t know. I’m not trying to be funny here. We’re going to monitor and see how he feels, and if he feels good to go and confident — which I hope that he is — then he’s going to play in the game. But I just don’t want to say he was limited or he was full, and then you guys would be like, ‘Well, you were not speaking truthfully.'”
It’s possible that Gonzalez is fine and the Patriots simply managed his workload this week while being technically accurate with their injury reports. That stuff _does_ happen with players who are healthy but still building up stamina following lengthy injury absences.
Story continues below advertisement
However, the fact that Gonzalez was limited two days in a row and now is questionable for Sunday’s game — after not carrying an injury designation last Sunday — suggests his hamstring really is acting up. And that should concern Patriots fans, as hamstring injuries can linger throughout a full season.
As Vrabel noted, New England will announce its gameday inactives roughly 90 minutes before Sunday’s 1 p.m. ET kickoff.
Featured image via Mark J. Rebilas/Imagn Images