The New England Patriots messed up their game against the Green Bay Packers, falling to them 45-27. But at the center of the loss, Christian Gonzalez’s inconsistency made things worse for them, and Mike Vrabel isn’t letting it slide.

“I mean, again, when your best players don’t play good, you don’t have much of a chance in this league,” Mike Vrabel said postgame, per WEEI. “So we expect a lot more; he expects a lot more. We need more from him and everybody else. It wasn’t just him.

“I mean, again, we gotta be able to coach and be prepared, and then we have to execute. So it’s like it is every single week when we don’t win. It’s all of us, and it starts with me.”

The numbers showed how difficult the game was for him. According to Pro Football Focus stats shared by Boston radio personality Alex Barth, opponents targeted Gonzalez 11 times and completed 10 passes against him. Those catches resulted in 187 receiving yards and one touchdown. Gonzalez managed just one pass breakup.

Gonzalez admitted that he did not play well against the Packers and accepted responsibility for his performance.

“They got the best of me today…I had a bad game,” Gonzalez said postgame. “Obviously, it’s frustrating…but it’s football. I’m going to have a bad game. The defense is counting on me to hold down the backside, hold down everything else just like we have been. Obviously, we didn’t, and they did a better job.”

It’s not like Gonzalez played a bad game throughout. Against the Steelers, he was responsible for covering DK Metcalf and made it difficult for the wide receiver to catch the ball. Metcalf caught only three passes for 11 yards when Gonzalez was covering him. Two of those catches came on short screen passes behind the line of scrimmage.

The shoulder injury could be one reason behind Christian Gonzalez’s inconsistent performances this season. Gonzalez hurt his shoulder during the Patriots’ Week 3 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars on September 27, 2026. The injury forced him to miss the next two games against the Buffalo Bills and Las Vegas Raiders.

But the expectations come from the kind of investment the team made in him. Patriots signed cornerback Christian Gonzalez to a contract extension on September 7, 2026, just before the regular season began. There was some holdup in the Patriots awarding him the extension, sparking rumors.

The deal made Gonzalez the highest-paid cornerback in NFL history at the time. He will earn an average of $33.75 million per year, moving ahead of Seattle Seahawks cornerback Devon Witherspoon, who previously held the record with $33 million annually.

The investment was made because Gonzalez has proven to deliver for the Patriots. In the last two seasons, the cornerback made a total of 128 tackles and two interceptions. The Steelers game was also proof enough of the damage he can do when healthy.

Now, let’s wait and see how he improves his game in the coming games.