Hightower right in middle of it all
Patriots middle linebacker Dont’a Hightower participated in all but two of Minnesota’s offensive downs in Sunday’s 24-10 victory over the Vikings at Gillette Stadium.
The 6-foot-3, 260-pound, first-round pick out of Alabama partook in 59 of the Vikings’ 61 snaps (97 percent) and finished the game with five tackles, one tackle for a loss and a quarterback hurry on Kirk Cousins.
Bill Belichick yesterday touted Hightower’s physical and mental influence on the Patriots front seven.
“High always does a good job, he’s a very smart player, he’s a very instinctive player,” Belichick said during a conference call. “He has good anticipation and good awareness and he knows what the strengths and weaknesses of (what) each defensive call is.
“He can pretty quickly assess that based on the offensive formation and personnel and what happens after the ball is snapped.”
Belichick added flanking linebackers Kyle Van Noy and Elandon Roberts have similar skills they can execute independently or jointly.
Van Noy and Roberts had five tackles apiece while disrupting the flow of the Vikings offense that finished with 278 total yards and 16 first downs.
“Anytime High is on the field our communication, certainly at his position and the with people that he works with, is always good whether that is in pass rush or pass coverage, formation adjustments and checks and so forth,” Belichick said.
“It doesn’t matter if he’s on the end of the line or off the line or up in the line is pass rush situations, his communication, instinctiveness and overall experience as a football player in our system is extremely valuable.”
Great protector
Left offensive tackle Trent Brown played one of his best games of the season protecting quarterback Tom Brady’s blind side against the Vikings pass rush.
Brown was matched against Vikings right end Everson Griffin for most of the game as the Patriots churned up 471 yards of total offense. Brady completed 24-of-32 passes for 311 yards while experiencing one quarterback hurry from safety Harrison Smith and zero sacks.
The massive 6-8, 380pound Brown was acquired in an offseason trade with the San Francisco 49ers to replace Nate Solder, who defected to the New York Giants. Brown was a right tackle in 24-of-26 starts with the Niners but has made a smooth transition to the opposite side.
“Trent’s done a good job for us,” Belichick said. “He learned a new offense and has played left tackle before but he played right tackle more recently, so the footwork is obviously opposite.
“But he’s done a good job and certainly is a big powerful player that can do a lot of things that can help us at that position.”
Old-school battle
Belichick has respect and admiration for Alabama coach Nick Saban and Georgia’s Kirby Smart and shows it by drafting their players.
Belichick caught the tail end of the Crimson Tide’s 3528 victory over the Bulldogs in Saturday’s SEC title game. Alabama also beat Georgia, 26-23, in overtime in last January’s national championship game. The in the ensuing NFL draft, Belichick used his two first-round picks to select Georgia left offensive tackle Isaiah Wynn and running back Sony Michel.
Belichick’s recent Alabama picks are Hightower (2012), DL Xavier Dickson (2015) and CB Cyrus Jones (2016). Patriots starting center David Andrews signed as a rookie free agent out of Georgia in 2015.