Patriots Rumors: Dont’a Hightower to miss remainder of season
New England Patriots Rumors: Linebacker Dont’a Hightower, according to sources, will miss the remainder of the season with a shoulder injury.
Recent New England Patriots rumors are not going to make the team or fans very happy. Already dealing with the absence of linebacker Dont’a Hightower for this week’s matchup against the Los Angeles Chargers, it looks like his injury is worse than expected.
ESPN has confirmed reports that Hightower will miss the remainder of the season with a torn pectoral muscle. ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports that Hightower will meet with Dr. James Andrews today.
This report comes on the heels of Wednesday’s report saying that Hightower was out for Week 8. While multiple reports have emerged on Thursday that his prognosis is worse than expected, there are sources that say the Patriots are uncertain that he will be lost for the season.
Whether or not Hightower is lost for the season, this is a big blow for the Patriots for the time being. This is not the first time that Hightower has dealt with a shoulder injury, as he underwent surgery on his right labrum in 2015 following the Super Bowl.
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Hightower would go on to miss four games that season but was ready for the regular season opener in September.
Injuries are, unfortunately, nothing new for the Patriots and Hightower to be dealing with. He has appeared in all 16 regular season games only once in his career. That came back in 2013, his second season in the league.
Hightower had already missed two games earlier this season because of a knee injury suffered in the season opener against the Kansas City Chiefs. The Patriots were easing him back into action, as he played about half the snaps against the Carolina Panthers. They upped his snaps played after that, and he looked to be rounding into form before being injured against the Atlanta Falcons in the third quarter while tackling Devonta Freeman.
With Hightower sidelined, the Patriots will more than likely use a committee to help replace him. Hightower had a lot of versatility, filling a number of roles on the Patriots defense as both an off-the-line linebacker or lining up along the line of scrimmage on the edge.
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He was a captain and responsible for a lot on the field, something the coaching staff valued. That is partly why the Patriots bucked up this offseason to keep Hightower after interest was shown by the Pittsburgh Steelers and New York Jets. Replacing him will not be an easy task for Bill Belichick, Matt Patricia and company.