Tag Archives: Dont’a Hightower

New England Patriots linebacker Dont’a Hightower (54) in the third quarter of an NFL football game against the Arizona Cardinals. (AP photo by Steven Senne)

The Patriots rookie starts at linebacker, and he injured his his hamstring Sunday at Buffalo. The team says it will be a game-time decision before the Patriots play at Denver on Sunday.

“Right now it’s going to be a day-to-day thing,” Hightower told the Boston Herald before today’s practice. “It’s going to be up to Jimbo [trainer Jim Whalen] and Coach [Bill] Belichick, but each day I’m feeling better and moving around great, so it’s going to be a game-time decision. It’s going to be up to them.”

When asked if it was his call to make, would he be likely to play, Hightower told the newspaper, “Like I said, it’s up to Coach [Belichick]. If he feels I can go, then I’m going to be out there and doing everything I can. But there’s no pain. I’m out there running around and doing everything I can, so what can I say? It’s a day-to-day thing.”

Hightower has played in four games this season, all starts, and made 17 tackles. He also scored a touchdown on a fumble return.

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A Daily Bama Blog reader asked about video of New England rookie linebacker Dont’a Hightower’s touchdown against the Tennessee Titans.

He picked up a Jake Locker fumble and ran it 6 yards for the score. If you watch the video, you’ll see good ball security as he goes into the end zone. I always thought he would’ve been a good pass-catching tight end, if he hadn’t been placed at linebacker. Can you imagine having to tackle him regularly through a 16-game NFL schedule?

New England Patriots linebacker Dont’a Hightower (54) runs 6 yards for a touchdown after picking up a fumble by Tennessee Titans quarterback Jake Locker. (AP photo by Wade Payne)

The day after New England beat the Tennessee Titans 34-13, Patriots coach Bill Belichick had nice things to say about rookie linebacker Dont’a Hightower, who had five tackles, one stop for lost yardage and a fumble return for a touchdown in his NFL debut.

At Belichick’s Monday news conference, he spoke about Hightower, rookie defensive end Chandler Jones and the training Hightower received at Alabama from Nick Saban, who coached under Belichick for four years in Cleveland.

“I’d say that Dont’a has a lot of responsibility at his position, relative to formations and adjustments, pass coverage, run responsibilities and all that,” Belichick told reporters, according to a transcript provided by the Patriots. “He did a lot of those things at Alabama and played a couple different spots at Alabama in their defense, which has some similarities to what we do. I think he was very well-coached and schooled when he got here. He’s a smart guy. He’s picking things up pretty well.

“Chandler, less experienced but probably less variables at his position, although there are still plenty of them, but probably not to the degree that Dont’a has a regular and nickel linebacker and all those kind of things. Both players have done a reasonably good job of that. They’re both smart, they’ve worked hard and they’ve both been out there. They’ve both gotten a lot of reps on the field.

“That’s always good way to learn, is to experience it and go through it, make a mistake, correct it, go out there, do it again and get it right. There’s a lot to be said for that and those guys, really a lot of our young players have had an opportunity to do that – they’ve been on the field, they’ve practiced, they’ve made mistakes, they’ve gone back out and done them right the next time and been able to move onto something else. That’s been a positive. Those two guys, they’ve done a good job.”

We would love to tell you what Hightower said, but Belichick has a rule that’s similar to what Saban has at Alabama: Rookies aren’t allowed to talk to reporters. It’s the same for first-year players at Alabama.

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Former Alabama linebacker Dont’a Hightower wore No. 45 in preseason with the New England Patriots, but the team recently switched him to No. 54.

As the Boston Herald points out, that number has some history with the Patriots. It also belonged to former standout Tedy Bruschi.

“I definitely feel honored to be able to wear this number,” Hightower told the newspaper. “I haven’t spoken to Tedy yet about it, but I’ve read that he didn’t want it to be retired and he hoped another linebacker would come in and be able to wear this number and be able to play as well. Hopefully I’ll be able to live up to the hype of that.”

Funny enough, it’s an important number in Alabama history, too, especially for middle linebackers, which is where Hightower played often last season for the Crimson Tide. Lee Roy Jordan wore No. 54 when he was a first-team All-America center and middle linebacker at Alabama in 1962. Jordan also was an NFL All-Pro with the Dallas Cowboys, where he wore No. 55 and played middle linebacker. Rolando McClain, Hightower’s predecessor at Alabama that position, wears No. 55 for the Oakland Raiders.

Other notes involving Alabama in the NFL: According to the injury report the NFL provides to The Associated Press, Cincinnati cornerback Dre Kirkpatrick (knee) and Seattle guard James Carpenter (knee) are out for this weekend’s games. Arizona safety Rashad Johnson (abdomen) and Cleveland running back Trent Richardson (knee) are listed as questionable. Baltimore linebacker Courtney Upshaw (shoulder) is probable.

We have to give Alabama Pro Updates (@BamaProUpdates on Twitter) credit for looking through the NFL injury report. We were prepared to do it, but while sitting down at the computer this evening, we discovered it already had been done.

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Masslive.com has an excellent piece about Dont’a Hightower calling the defensive plays in the New England Patriots’ exhibition loss to Philadelphia.

Hightower, a former Alabama All-America linebacker, is a rookie with the Patriots.

The most entertaining part of the story: Hightower forgetting sometimes that there’s a speaker in his helmet that allows the defensive coordinator to talk to him during games.

“It’s something that I’m not used to. The couple of times that we did it at practice, I was kind of lost,” Hightower told MassLive.com. “I didn’t know who was talking to me. I still didn’t know for a while that it was (defensive coordinator Matt Patricia).”

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When you recall Dont’a Hightower at Alabama, does the word “dominant” come to mind? Even if it didn’t on first thought, do you agree with it?

Yes, me too.

In an interview with the Boston Herald, Hightower wants to dominate.

“I’m going with the same mindset that I always have, which is to go in and be dominant, and be accountable to my teammates, and do what I have to do get off the field and whatever I have to do to get the victory,” Hightower told the Herald.

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