Patriots secondary faces big questions before camp

There is just about one week left until the New England Patriots begin training camp on July 25, as The Providence Journal continues its weekly, in-depth look at the most interesting position groups on the roster.

Today is a look at the defensive secondary:

Christian Gonzalez

The Patriots’ superstar cornerback has done just about everything the organization has asked of him and more since taking him with the 17^th overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft. The only downsides people can point to are his ability to stay on the field and not being physical enough.

Gonzalez has played just 34 of a total 51 possible games across three seasons and has never played a full season. In 2023, Gonzalez suffered a torn labrum and dislocated right shoulder in Week 4 that knocked him out for the rest of the season. In 2024, Gonzalez missed the final game of the season due to concussion protocol, but the team was resting all of its starters anyway. Then last season, despite Gonzalez missing the first three games of the season after suffering a hamstring injury in camp, he was named to his first Pro Bowl.

As for the physicality, an ESPN article on July 7 included league executives, coaches and scouts who were anonymously surveyed to rank the top 10 cornerbacks in the NFL. Gonzalez was No. 3. The article said that one recurring knock on Gonzalez that came up was that he wasn’t physical enough.

“His game is a bit finesse sometimes,” an anonymous NFL personnel evaluator said. “But he’s got tons of traits – long, can run and cover. The idea of the position is to cover the guy, and he can do that very well.”

Despite those two downsides to Gonzalez’s game, he ascended to superstardom in the playoffs. The Patriots’ defense was largely responsible for getting them to the Super Bowl, and Gonzalez was one of the key cogs in that machine.

Gonzalez allowed just 14 completions on 36 targets in the playoffs. That’s a completion percentage of 38.8%, the lowest by any player that faced at least 25 or more targets in the postseason since 2018, according to NFL Next Gen Stats. In the regular season, he has back-to-back seasons of 10 or more passes defensed, and in 2025 he had allowed the lowest completion percentage of his career at 53.6%.

Gonzalez seems primed to be the next great Patriots cornerback, and soon the Patriots will have to pay him like he is, as he’s currently eligible for a new contract with the franchise. He attended minicamp in June, but his participation in drills was limited. Will he be there when camp opens on July 24?

Carlton Davis

The Patriots signed Davis in the 2025 offseason to a three-year, $54 million contract to act as an above-average No. 2 cornerback alongside Gonzalez.

So, how did that first season go?

On the plus side, Davis played a full season for the first time in his eight-year career. Prior to last season, Davis had never played in more than 13 games since 2020. In 2025, Davis had 10 passes defensed, 69 tackles and allowed a completion percentage of 58.1%. 

In the playoffs, Davis stepped up with two interceptions, four passes defensed, a completion percentage of 50% and QBs had a passer rating of 22.3 when targeting Davis. For reference, if a QB spiked the ball every play, then their passer rating would be 39.6. All of which were the best marks of his career in the playoffs.

On the downside, Davis failed to record an interception during the regular season, meaning that both of the Patriots’ starting corners failed to intercept a pass last season. Last season was the first time he failed to intercept a pass since his rookie year in 2018. Davis also allowed four receiving touchdowns, which is tied for the highest he’s allowed in a season since 2021.

For an aging corner, Davis had a productive season in his first year in New England. The question is now whether he’s able to repeat another fully healthy season despite being 30. If Gonzalez can stay healthy and Davis can be a full-time No. 2 cornerback, then one of the league’s top cornerback duos should put together a similar season. 

Marcus Jones

Jones is the ultimate utility player with the ability to play on all three sides of the ball, so when he signed his three-year, $35 million extension with the Patriots to make him one of the highest-paid slot cornerbacks on Oct. 28, 2025, fans were more than pleased to see he was staying with the team.

On defense last season, Jones racked up three interceptions (second on the team), one pick-six (the only player on the team to do so), 11 passes defensed (team leader) and two sacks. In his playoff debut, Jones recorded another interception that he subsequently took to the house, forced a fumble and recorded a sack.

While all those stats sound impressive, Jones struggled mightily in coverage. In the regular season, he allowed a completion percentage of 67.9% on 78 targets. He allowed a career-high 554 yards and seven touchdowns. 

Jones is considered a nickelback for a reason; he doesn’t have the size or skills to cover some of the league’s top receivers every down.

Thankfully, there’s an exceptional return to that downside on special teams.

Jones is currently the league’s all-time career leader in yards per return on punts with 14.3. Except for 2023, when he only played two games, Jones has never had a season with fewer than 12.5 yards per return.

This past season, Jones had a career-high 17.3 yards per return on punts. Jones returned just 21 punts last year and returned them for a total of 363 yards. As long as Jones isn’t thrust into the role of an every-down cornerback, he should continue to not only be a fan-favorite, but also an All-Pro.

Craig Woodson

Woodson had a relatively mediocre debut season in coverage during the regular season, but his ability to slow an opponent's run game was immense.

Woodson managed just three passes defensed and allowed a 66.7% completion percentage with seven touchdowns on 45 targets. The number that stands out the most is his tackles. Woodson finished with 79 tackles last season, with four of them being tackles for loss. Woodson was constantly crashing the box last season on blitzes and run defense, and doing so effectively.

But, just like the rest of the Patriots’ secondary, Woodson reached a new level in the playoffs. Woodson recorded his first career interception and allowed a completion percentage of just 30.8% on 13 targets. Woodson also allowed 0 touchdowns, and QBs had a rating of 8.2 when targeting him in the postseason.

He improved in the run game as well, as he had 10 stops in the postseason, the most among all safeties, and had a 91.2 PFF run-defense grade, which also led all safeties in the postseason. To top it all off, Woodson had 30 tackles to, you guessed it, lead all safeties in the postseason.

Kevin Byard

After spending two years in Chicago, the Patriots signed Byard to a one-year, $7 million deal to reunite the safety with Vrabel after six seasons together in Tennessee.

Byard led the NFL last season in interceptions with seven but will be 33 years old when the season starts. So, it makes sense why teams around the league, including the Patriots, were hesitant to sign Byard to a long-term deal.

To go along with his seven interceptions, Byard also allowed a completion percentage of 63.5%, his lowest since 2021. The downside to that is Byard allowed seven touchdowns, 16.5 receiving yards per completion, and 10.5 receiving yards per target.

It’s hard to project what the perception of Byard will be at the end of the season. On the one hand, maybe reuniting with Vrabel allows Byard to have a late-career resurgence, a similar output to last season and earn first-team All-Pro honors. On the other hand, Byard can fall victim to an athlete’s greatest enemy – Father Time – and become a liability.

Karon Prunty

Prunty was drafted in the fifth round this year out of Wake Forest and is currently listed as the backup to Gonzalez on ESPN’s depth chart.

Prunty started all 13 games last season for Wake Forest and had 40 tackles, one sack, one interception, eight passes defensed, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery. Prunty was graded as the 12^th-best coverage corner in the country and second in the ACC, according to PFF.

Prunty had an allowed catch rate of 44.4% last season, which was second-best in the conference. His performance earned him Third-Team All-ACC.

Prunty is another example of the Patriots taking older secondary players in the later rounds, as he is currently 24. Prunty shouldn’t be viewed as anything else other than a backup, but his college stats do show promise that, if one of Davis or Gonzalez were to go down, he can step up.

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Patriots secondary faces big questions before camp