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How Stephon Gilmore is helping Christian Gonzalez become a star
FOXBORO — In his bid to become the Patriots’ next great cornerback, Christian Gonzalez is taking pointers from one of his superstar predecessors.
Gonzalez said Thursday that former New England standout Stephon Gilmore has been a valuable resource for him as he enters his second NFL season.
“It’s real cool to be able to talk to somebody like that,” Gonzalez said after Day 2 of Patriots training camp. “(I can) talk to him any time that I need to and just want to talk about ball.”
The two never overlapped in Foxboro, but they’ve been connected since the earliest days of Gonzalez’s pro career. In a follow-up conversation with the Herald, the 22-year-old said Gilmore contacted him shortly after the Patriots selected him 17th overall in last year’s NFL draft.
Gilmore, who made two All-Pro first teams, won a Super Bowl and was the 2019 NFL Defensive Player of the Year during his four seasons with the Patriots, placed that call despite being under contract with the Dallas Cowboys at the time. He currently is a free agent.
“As soon as I got drafted last year, he reached out to me and talked to me,” Gonzalez told the Herald. “All the coaches, they tell me Steph is somebody you can look up to and somebody you can talk to. He lives out in the area that I’m from (in the Dallas area), so we pass by each other and see each other and just talk about ball.”
Gonzalez takes cues from Gilmore in the film room, too. Though the latter hasn’t played for the Patriots since his messy breakup with the franchise in 2021, coaches routinely reference him when instructing New England’s current corners.
“That’s Steph Gilmore,” Gonzalez said. “You’re definitely going to bring up a Hall of Famer, for sure.”
Gonzalez called Gilmore “one of the best to ever do it” and said he tries to “mimic things” he does on the field. It’s easy to draw a connection between the two soft-spoken cover men, as fellow cornerback Jonathan Jones did earlier this week.
“He comes in, doesn’t say much,” said Jones, who’s been with the Patriots since 2016. “He kind of reminds me of Gilmore in the sense that he doesn’t really say much but when they step onto the field they’re playmakers. So, it’s exciting to see him back coming off of an injury, I think it’s going to be good for him.”
Whether Gonzalez can become a Gilmore-level difference-maker for New England’s defense remains to be seen, but he showed All-Pro potential during his abbreviated rookie year. The Oregon product earned Defensive Rookie of the Month honors for September after a string of strong outings against A.J. Brown, Tyreek Hill and Garrett Wilson, only to suffer a shoulder injury in Week 4 that ended his season.
Now healthy, Gonzalez has looked like the Patriots’ clear No. 1 corner in training camp and is impressing his veteran teammates. Jones, the favorite to start opposite Gonzalez, trumpeted the youngster’s talents during spring practice, saying Gonzalez “has every attribute that you want in a corner” and is “going to be one of the best players in the game.”
The Patriots will need Gonzalez to live up to that hype as they prepare for a schedule stocked with high-caliber pass-catching threats, beginning with Cincinnati’s Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins in Week 1.
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