Dont'a Hightower working to recover Pro Bowl form with New England Patriots

New England Patriots linebacker Dont'a Hightower pounces on a fumble during an NFL game against the Houston Texans on Sept. 9, 2018, at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass.

New England Patriots linebacker Dont'a Hightower hasn't been happy with his play so far this season. The former Alabama All-American played in only five games in 2017 because of a torn pectoral muscle, and he doesn't hold with the knocking-the-rust-off reasoning for his 2018 performance.

"I know I'm capable of playing better," Hightower said, "and I need to play better."

In New England's two games -- a 27-20 victory over the Houston Texans on Sept. 9 and a 31-20 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sept. 16 -- Hightower has produced six tackles and recovered a fumble.

"Definitely a lot of room for improvement," Hightower told The Athletic. "I think the first game was decent, but it's still early, man. I missed a lot of football. I worked hard to get to where I'm at. We all have. Obviously every game, I'm going to continue to want to get better. It's definitely something that I'm going to take a lot more pride in."

On Sunday night, Hightower will play against the Detroit Lions, coached by Matt Patricia. Until this season, Hightower had Patricia as his defensive coordinator. New England didn't replace Patricia when he left for the Lions, with head coach Bill Belichick overseeing the defense and linebackers coach Brian Flores handling the day-to-day duties of the defensive coordinator.

Flores doesn't see anything wrong with the way that Hightower has played.

"I think Dont'a, he's obviously one of the leaders of our team," Flores said. "I think he's playing well. I think he's doing everything we're asking him to do. This guy is selfless. He's a team guy."

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Hightower hasn't been on the field as much for the Patriots this year as he usually has been when healthy. Hightower has played in every regular-season game only once in his previous six NFL seasons. So maybe having Hightower play two-thirds of the defensive snaps through two games is a way to protect his health. Or it could be more a reflection of New England's defense -- and the situations it's faced -- this season.

Only four New England defenders have played more than Hightower in 2018, and only two have been on the field for more than 78 percent of the snaps.

"It's early in the season," Flores said about Hightower's playing time. "We're trying to get different guys involved. He's obviously a part of that, and as the season progresses, his role may or may not change, and it's based on the team we're playing, the best fit we see for specific down-and-distance or situation."

A Pro Bowl selection in 2016 and a big-play catalyst for two Super Bowl-winning teams, Hightower is not serving as an official captain for the Patriots in 2018, a position he held the previous two seasons. New England's players chose defensive backs Patrick Chung and Devin McCourty to fill the captain's role for the defense in 2018.

The Patriots and Lions kick off at 7:20 p.m. CDT Sunday in Detroit. NBC will televise the game.

"That's where I'm at," Hightower said of his start to the 2018 season. "It's football. There are going to be ups and downs in the games just like everybody else, but I've just got to string my good days together."

Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @AMarkG1.

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