The New England Patriots have had some turnover on their defense this offseason and one player who is still around is in jeopardy of missing the regular season opener.
Gone are Darrelle Revis, Vince Wilfork and Brandon Browner from the defense of the Super Bowl champions as the New England Patriots will look a lot different from the unit who stopped the Seattle Seahawks to win their fourth Super Bowl.
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Dont’a Hightower is one of the reasons why the Patriots were able to stop the Seahawks before Malcolm Butler made the interception that is likely still keeping Pate Carroll and Russell Wilson up late at night. Hightower made the tackle on Marshawn Lynch to take him down at the one-yard line before the interception, and he did all of that with one arm.
Hightower was on the team’s injury report since Week 14 with a shoulder injury that required offseason surgery to repair his labrum and the inside linebacker is expected to be out six to seven months, according to the Boston Globe after surgery to repair his right shoulder.
The 25-year-old former first round pick out of Alabama was limited to 12 games last year but made a career-high six sacks, which tied for second on the team and he was on pace to set a career-high in tackles when he finished with 105 stops, eight fewer tackles than he had the year before in 16 games.
Expect the Patriots to be cautious with Hightower in his recovery and a potential trip to the PUP list to begin the season where he’d miss the first six games is a possibility if his recovery is closer to the seven month time frame.
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