Mike Vrabel clears the air on Christian Gonzalez's absence

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – After missing joint practices, Christian Gonzalez was a notable absence from the team's first preseason game. Many of the players who did not see any time on the field, including Drake Maye, came out in uniform and stood on the side for the entire game, remaining involved. But the star cornerback was noticeably missing. During New England Patriots coach Mike Vrabel's appearance on the 98.5 The Sports Hub pregame show, he said that Gonzalez's absence on Tuesday was due to injury rather than his ongoing contract negotiations. After the game, he further reiterated this. "Christian was in a group of many players who weren't here tonight," the head coach began, before later being asked if he suffered an injury in Monday's practice that has kept him sidelined this week. "Christian was unavailable, physically unavailable for the practice. That's the clarification," he stated. "Just like other players that I told to have treatment, and everybody has a plan here, there were other guys that were in that same category. If you want to list the names: Christian Elliss, Brenden Schooler, Harold Landry, Christian Barmore, et cetera. So make sure they're all included. They were all in the same group of what they did." The injury appeared to happen towards the end of Monday's session, with Gonzalez taking a hard fall while covering wide receiver Romeo Doubs on a ball thrown into the end zone during the two-minute drill. He walked off to the side following the play, continuing to shake out his leg, but remained on the sideline as it did not appear to be anything too serious. However, his absence will still bring up questions about a potential hold-in, as the cornerback is entering the final year of his rookie deal and is eligible for an extension. Both sides have made it clear they want it to happen, and as one of, if not the, best cornerbacks in the league, it's likely he is looking to reset the market. But Vrabel is making it clear that there is nothing going on other than making sure his star defender remains healthy. Follow Patriots Wire on Twitter and Facebook. This article originally appeared on Patriots Wire: Mike Vrabel clears the air on Christian Gonzalez's absence