Gonzalez played 49 snaps and held up well in Sunday’s 42-13 blowout win over the Carolina Panthers. The rehab process took longer than he and the Patriots had hoped, but Gonzalez tried not to think about the time he was stuck sidelined on Sunday afternoon.
Advertisement
Instead, the 23-year-old focused on the joy of playing again.
“Anything can be a little challenging (when) not doing it for a long time,” Gonzalez said. “But at the end of the day I’ve done this since I was 5 years old. So my mindset going into the game today was not to really think of how long it’s been like that. Just, it’s another football game. Go out there and be my 5-year-old self. Go out there and have fun. Have that joy of just being back on the field.”
It was a humid afternoon in Foxborough and Gonzalez wasn’t perfect in coverage, but a little rust after two months on the shelf was expected.
“It’s little challenges,” Gonzalez said. “Just getting your legs under you. Getting back in that rhythm. Corner is kind of all about rhythm. You’ve just to get in your groove.”
Advertisement
Ultimately, he was just thrilled to be patrolling the Patriots secondary once again.
“It was great to get out there,” Gonzalez said. “All I do and want to do is play football, so it was fun to finally get out there. Get out there in a home game. The crowd was rocking. Being out there with the guys, it was a lot of fun.”
