Week 1 of the NFL season is here, but it doesn't sound like the Patriots will have star cornerback Christian Gonzalez when they kick things off Sunday afternoon against the Las Vegas Raiders.

Gonzalez hasn't practice since he suffered a hamstring injury in the team's first padded practice of training camp back on July 28. He wasn't out there Monday when the team held its first practice of Week 1, putting his status for Week 1 in serious jeopardy.

"I wouldn't anticipate him out here today," head coach Mike Vrabel told reporters ahead of Monday's practice. "Hopefully that improves. He's working hard and trying to improve. He wants to be out there."

Vrabel said there is a sense of frustration with the injury, but later clarified it's not the coaching staff being frustrated with the player and a slower-than-expected recovery. The frustration comes from Gonzalez, who would much rather be playing football than nursing a bad hammy at the moment.

"That's in my own personal experience when you're not in there with the team. Those are just things in the course of my career or being a coach dealing with players, they want to play. They want to be out there," Vrabel explained. "Those are the things I've tried to talk to players about; the time you're not on the field and staying engaged, into the meetings and the schedule. They all want to play. That was just a broad term on things I'm trying to focus on when guys aren't out there."

Vrabel wouldn't say that Gonzalez has suffered a setback, and only added the recovery hasn't gone as planned. 

"Again, he's working hard. You can say one injury is going to be 3-4 weeks and one will be 1-2 weeks. Everyone heels differently," said Vrabel. "Just making sure when players are back they can do their job with confidence and protect themselves on and off the field, so they don't make it any worse."

The Patriots will release their first injury report of the 2025 season later this week. Vrabel didn't want to speculate on Gonzalez's Week 1 status before he returns to practice, and declined to put a timeline on the player's return.

"We want to get him back for practice first and then we'll have an update in status for Sunday," he said.

But given how Gonzalez has been sidelined for over a month and how the season is now just six days away, it's looking real unlikely the Patriots will have their No. 1 corner against Las Vegas. A Gonzalez absence would likely leave Alex Austin as the next man up to be the top corner opposite veteran Carlton Davis, while second-year corner D.J. James could see some action as the No. 1 after a strong training camp and preseason.