The New England Patriots are still alive in the NFL playoffs thanks to a win Sunday night over the Los Angeles Chargers. But it wasn't all good news at Gillette Stadium.

Star cornerback Christian Gonzalez's status for the divisional round is up in the air after he left the game with a head injury.

Christian Gonzalez injury

Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel confirmed on Monday that Gonzalez is in the NFL's concussion protocol and it is not yet known how long until he could be cleared to play.

"I would say that he would be in the protocol. How long that lasts, I don't know. When you don't return to the game and they won't let you return to the game, that would put you in the protocol. Wherever that goes, that goes," Vrabel said during his Monday news conference.

New England next plays Sunday against either the Pittsburgh Steelers or Houston Texans.    

Boston Herald reporter Zack Cox said after the game that Gonzalez was in the locker room and said he felt "fine," but could not talk to reporters due to NFL concussion policy.

Will Christian Gonzalez be out this week?

The speed of a player exiting concussion protocol can vary. Earlier this season against the Baltimore Ravens, Patriots players TreyVeon Henderson, Kayshon Boutte and Jared Wilson all suffered concussions.

Henderson was back the next week without missing any game action. Boutte returned after missing one game, while Wilson missed multiple weeks.

Gonzalez suffered the injury early in the fourth quarter as he broke up a pass intended for Chargers wide receiver Question Johnston. After Gonzalez dove to the turf making a play on the ball, Johnston landed on the cornerback's head.

The television broadcast captured Gonzalez walking slowly up the tunnel toward the locker room, and he was ruled out a short time later.

The Pro Bowl cornerback was having a stellar performance before the injury.

"Gonzo continues to play at a high level. Those are the expectations that he has for himself and we have for him," Vrabel said. "We appreciate what he's done and his willingness to line up different places. It's not quite as east as, we've been through this, different coverages, locations, motions, things like that. He's handled that all really well and hopefully we'll get him back."