FOXBOROUGH — Exactly two months to the day that Christian Gonzalez injured his hamstring, the Second Team All-Pro cornerback made his 2025 Patriots debut.

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.

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-

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