FOXBOROUGH – The Patriots will likely open up the season without arguably their best player.

On Friday, Christian Gonzalez was absent from Patriots practice. The All-Pro cornerback missed every practice this week. He hasn’t suited up for a practice since July 28 after suffering a hamstring injury.

At this point, it would be a shock if Gonzalez played on Sunday when the Patriots take on the Las Vegas Raiders in their Week 1 matchup.

“We’re going to call our defense and play football,” Patriots defensive coordinator Terrell Williams said when asked about playing without Gonzalez. “That’s what the league is about. I’ve been in this league a while. We’ve had guys who we thought were going to play and didn’t play on gameday. It comes right up to the last minute before you put the inact

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