Matthew Geagan is a sports producer for CBS Boston. He has been part of the WBZ sports team for nearly 20 years. He moved over to the web in 2012 and has covered all the highs (and a few lows) in Boston sports.

Christian Gonzalez has a 50-50 chance at making his return for the New England Patriots in Week 3 against the Pittsburgh Steelers. The star cornerback is questionable for Sunday's game, after he made his long-awaited return to practice during the week.

Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel isn't one make everyone wait for the team's injury report to be released late Friday. He announced the Gonzalez news -- and a few other injury updates -- early Friday afternoon.

"I'll start off by saying Keion [White] and Gonzo and Jack Westover will be questionable for the game," Vrabel announced Friday afternoon. "No other injury designations."

Gonzalez was limited all three days of practice this week, and will be a game-time decision for New England.

"We listed him as limited [on the practice reports], which means he did some work. We'll still evaluate where he's at closer to the game," Vrabel said Friday. "It was good to see him out there and good to have him out there. The more guys we have out there, the better."

A Gonzalez return would be a huge boost for a Patriots defense that has surrendered an average of 315 passing yards over the first two weeks, which ranks last in the NFL. Coverage has been an issue with Alex Austin filling in for Gonzalez, as the Patriots have surrendered 13 passing plays of 20 or more yards, which is also the most in the NFL.

It will be interesting to see how much Gonzalez plays on Sunday if he does return, given this was his first week of practice since the end of July. The All-Pro corner was hurt on July 28 while covering Stefon Diggs in a drill during New England's first padded practice of training camp. The 23-year-old expressed frustration over his lengthy recovery on Wednesday, but wanted to move on from the injury and look ahead.

"It's been tough having to watch [from the sidelines]," Gonzalez said. "But I'm excited to get out there, run around and get back to playing ball."

The Patriots had perfect attendance at Friday's practice for a second straight day. White missed Wednesday's session with the illness that kept the defensive end out New England's Week 2 win over the Dolphins, but practiced both Thursday and Friday. Fullback Jack Westover has been limited all week with a hamstring injury.

Christian Gonzalez questionable for Patriots in Week 3 vs. Steelers