Dont’a Hightower, #54 and linebacker for the five-time Super Bowl winning team the New England Patriots, is reportedly out for the season with a torn pectoral muscle. Patriots head coach Bill Belichick and Patriots defensive coordinator Matt Patricia are both struck by the news and so is the rest of the team. However the Patriots, like the championship team that they are, hope to soon get back on track just in time to make it to the AFC Championship, even if it means getting there without Hightower.
Although Belichick is disappointed in losing his best linebacker and his defensive captain, the Patriots have still done well without him by defeating the San Diego Chargers, by a one touchdown lead (21-13) on Sunday, October 29, 2017. Belichick and Patricia are currently experimenting with backups such as Kyle Van Noy, and David Harris to see who can fill the role of Hightower. But Belichick is seriously leaning towards Harris as a replacement. Harris stated in an interview with ESPN, “ That’s terrible news for a guy like Hightower to go down with that injury and to be out for the year.”.Three of five linebackers really were the main players used to replace Hightower on Sunday’s game. Kyle Van Noy, Elandon Roberts, and David Harris were important in helping the Pats win against the Chargers.
The Patriots playing without Hightower isn’t an unusual thing as he has missed some games in both the 2014 and 2016 season but still managed to rack up a total of 65 tackles and 2.5 sacks in 2016 and 105 tackles and 6.0 sacks in the 2014 season. Pats fans are hoping that the Patriots end the season with a 14-2 record, without losing any more games.
People’s hopes that the Patriots will make it to the Super Bowl are slowly fading but true fans always stick with their team no matter what, just like what happened in Super Bowl 51 where the Pats came back with an outstanding win from being down 28-3 in the third quarter. Fans everywhere thought that Atlanta was going to walk away with a huge win but the Patriots got their act together, and both the offense, led by five-time super bowl champion quarterback, Tom Brady, and the defense, led by Dont’a Hightower worked to stop the Falcons from scoring and bounced back by putting 31 points on the scoreboard and ultimately making history as the greatest comeback in all of sports.
Although Hightower was a key defensive player during that game, David Harris could also output the same performance that Hightower did, in any game. There are mixed feelings about the Hightower Injury but Pats safety Devin McCourty states, “[The Patriots] have been out there a couple games without him, so [they] know what that is like.” The rest of Harris’ teammates hope that he will play as good as Hightower or even better.
The Patriots will play and hopefully defeat the Denver Broncos on Sunday, November 12, 2017, at Sports Authority Field in Denver, Colorado at 8:30 pm
All information from ESPN.
