Patriots Christian Gonzalez and Christian Barmore out against Bills; Vrabel talks Drake Maye shoulder injury

The New England Patriots will be without star cornerback Christian Gonzalez and defensive tackle Christian Barmore when they take on the Buffalo Bills Sunday.

Both defensive players missed practice this week with shoulder injuries. The 1-2 Patriots will be underdogs on the road against the AFC East-leading Bills, who are 3-0.

"That's just what the situation is. There's nothing we can do about it," head coach Mike Vrabel told reporters Friday. "We can make sure that the guys are playing are ready ... that's what happens every week in the National Football League."

Gonzalez signed a four-year $135 million contract extension just before the start of the season and shut down top receivers during the first two games against the Seattle Seahawks and Pittsburgh Steelers. 

Vrabel also addressed the status of Drake Maye, who appeared on the injury report with a shoulder injury this week but is expected to play on Sunday. Vrabel had said Monday that he was not aware of any lingering shoulder problems with Maye dating back to last year's AFC Championship Game against the Denver Broncos.

Vrabel said Maye's injury came out of last Sunday's loss against the Jacksonville Jaguars. 

"The fact that I think that it's a quarterback, I think that those things get looked at very closely," Vrabel said. "We want to make sure we're transparent so we listed him on the injury report after he went through the normal gameday protocol post-game.

Vrabel also said Ben Brown will start at right guard for the Patriots with Walter Rouse and Matt Pryor backing him up. Mike Onwenu and Greg Van Roten are both on the injured reserve list.