FOXBORO — For the first time since Week 17 of last season, the Patriots had their best defensive player available on Sunday.

Cornerback Christian Gonzalez made his season debut in New England’s 42-13 rout of the Carolina Panthers after sitting out the first three games with a lingering hamstring injury.

“It was great to get out there,” Gonzalez said postgame. “Like I talked about earlier in the week, all I do and want to do is play football, so it was fun to finally get out there, get out there in a home game. The crowd was rocking, and being out there with the guys, it was a lot of fun.”

Gonzalez, a second-team All-Pro last season, suffered his injury early in training camp and missed more than seven weeks of practice. He returned in a limited capacity ahead of New England’s Week 3 mat

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