Patriots unsure if Dont’a Hightower will return to form in 2021

If anyone knows what Patriots linebacker Dont’a Hightower should be capable of this season, it’s Jerod Mayo.

Except Mayo has no idea.

A former teammate turned Pats inside linebackers coach, Mayo told reporters Thursday he’s basically crossing his fingers the team gets the Hightower of old this season.

“Hopefully we get the same Hightower we got in 2019, but we’ll see,” he said. “I will say this about Hightower: I’m not worried about Hightower mentally. He’s one of the smartest players that I’ve been around, had the pleasure to coach. He knows all the X’s and O’s. He’ll probably be a coach one day, honestly. This guy, he’s very smart.

“The one thing you’ve got to be concerned about with a guy like that (is), you know, you’re coming off a year of not playing football.”

In 2019, Hightower earned his second Pro Bowl nod after recording 71 tackles, 5.5 sacks, four pass deflections and a fumble recovery he took for a touchdown. Last season, he was famously one of eight Patriots who opted out. Most are no longer with the team.

The 31-year-old captain has attended team meetings this offseason, but missed last week’s OTA practice open to the media, like several other defensive veterans. Though his on-field absences last year were far more noticeable.

“I’ll be honest, it was huge,” Mayo said. “It was kind of like — and I’m not trying to toot my own horn here — but it’s like, the times that I wasn’t hurt, I was kind of like a coach on the field. So having a guy like Hightower, at the end of the day, you can call the play, but as soon as you cross the white lines, those guys are in charge.

“Any time you have a guy as smart as Hightower that’s able to cross the white line, you feel comfortable. …. I’m not saying that we didn’t have that at times last year. But just getting it on a down-after-down basis is something we look forward to having this year.”

Mayo added he’s looking forward to Hightower’s leadership impacting all of the team’s newcomers — rookies and free-agent veterans alike — to help form a better defense in 2021. Without him, most of the inside linebacker snaps were left to Ja’Whaun Bentley and then rookies Josh Uche and Anfernee Jennings in 2020. While Mayo can’t say for certain how large a leap Uche and Jennings will take in Year 2, he’s already seen some differences.

“Knowing what to expect, these guys are coming in — their mentality’s a little different. They’re not on edge about everything,” he said. “They know where to be. They know how to take care of their bodies. They know how to be a professional. So now you can really start to focus on getting better as an athlete.”

“I look forward to seeing these guys in training camp, when we’ll get a better evaluation on these guys. But it’s kind of tough right now out there in shirts and shorts. That’s not football.”

And naturally, no football leads to a lot of questions.

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/3gbiNFC