For the first time all season, the New England Patriots will have all hands on deck on the defensive side of the ball.
Christian Gonzalez, the team’s best player and No. 1 cornerback, will make his season debut on Sunday against the Carolina Panthers. Two months after suffering a hamstring injury in training camp, and 11 days after returning to practice, the 23-year-old has been made active for the first time all season.
His level of exposure remains to be seen, but his presence will have a trickle-down
effect on the rest of the unit regardless. With Gonzalez set to take over one of the starting spots at cornerback — presumably to go up against the Panthers’ WR1, Tetairoa McMillan — the team will have its original top three at the position available: he will be joined by Carlton Davis as the other outside CB as well as Marcus Jones or Alex Austin in the slot, depending on package and defensive call.
The Patriots’ full game day roster for Sunday’s game looks as follows:
Patriots game day roster: Week 4 vs. Panthers
Quarterback (2): Drake Maye (10), Joshua Dobbs (11)
Running back (4): Rhamondre Stevenson (38), TreVeyon Henderson (32 | KR), Antonio Gibson (4 | KR), Jack Westover (37 | FB/TE)
Wide receiver (5): Kayshon Boutte (9), Stefon Diggs (8), Mack Hollins (13), DeMario Douglas (3), Kyle Williams (18)
Tight end (2): Hunter Henry (85), Austin Hooper (81)
Offensive tackle (4): Will Campbell (66 | LT), Morgan Moses (76 | RT), Marcus Bryant (52), Vederian Lowe (59)
Interior offensive line (4): Ben Brown (77 | LG), Garrett Bradbury (65 | C), Mike Onwenu (71 | RG), Brenden Jaimes (61)
Interior defensive line (5): Christian Barmore (90), Milton Williams (97), Khyiris Tonga (95), Joshua Farmer (92), Cory Durden (94)
Defensive edge (4): Harold Landry III (2), K’Lavon Chaisson (44), Keion White (99), Anfernee Jennings (33)
Linebacker (5): Robert Spillane (14), Christian Elliss (53), Jack Gibbens (51), Marte Mapu (15), Darius Harris (42)
Cornerback (5): Christian Gonzalez (0), Carlton Davis III (7), Marcus Jones (25 | PR), Alex Austin (28), Charles Woods (22)
Safety (5): Jaylinn Hawkins (21), Craig Woodson (31), Kyle Dugger (23), Dell Pettus (24), Brenden Schooler (41)
Specialists (3): Andy Borregales (36 | K), Bryce Baringer (17 | P/H), Julian Ashby (47 | LS)
Outside of Gonzalez making his long-awaited return, there are no notable changes to the Patriots’ game day roster compared to last week versus Pittsburgh or what you would expect the team to look like on a week-to-week basis. The biggest absence, of course, is starting left guard Jared Wilson, whose knee and ankle injuries kept him out of practice all week and who will be replaced in the lineup by Ben Brown.
The offensive line will naturally be in the spotlight, particularly given that the Panthers’ Derrick Brown is one of the best interior D-lineman in all of football. Brown’s ability to integrate quickly and show some chemistry with left tackle Will Campbell and center Garrett Bradbury will be crucial.
At wide receiver, meanwhile, the Patriots continue to roll with five players. Despite rookie Efton Chism trending up and slot receiver DeMario Douglas having a quiet start to the season, the team is not willing to make a change yet.
Patriots reserves
Inactives (6): QB Tommy DeVito (16 | emergency QB), WR Efton Chism III (86), LG Jared Wilson (58), OL Caedan Wallace (70), DT Eric Gregory (55), ED Elijah Ponder (91)
Practice squad (14): RB Terrell Jennings (26), WR John Jiles (83), WR Jeremiah Webb (29), TE C.J. Dippre (82), TE Gee Scott Jr. (80), OL Jack Conley (67), OL Royce Newman (74), DT Jeremiah Pharms Jr. (98), DT Fabien Lovett (72), ED Truman Jones (54), ED Bradyn Swinson (43), CB Miles Battle (35), CB Kobee Minor (19), CB Tyron Herring (39)
Practice squad exempt (1): DT David Olajiga (96 | IPPP)
Reserve/injured (9): FB Brock Lampe, OT Yasir Durant, CB Marcellas Dial Jr., DT Jaquelin Roy, RB Lan Larison, RB Deneric Prince, DT Isaiah Iton, G Layden Robinson, LB Jahlani Tavai (IR-R)
Reserve/retired (1): OL Wes Schweitzer
The aforementioned Jared Wilson and Efton Chism are the biggest names on New England’s inactives list. As for the rest of the reserves, no big news to report either. Two members of the practice squad — interior offensive lineman Brendan Jaimes and linebacker Darius Harris — were elevated to the game day roster on Saturday and will automatically revert back on Monday.
The Patriots’ Week 4 game against the Panthers will be kicked off at 1 p.m. ET at Gillette Stadium.
