Hightower out for the year with a torn pec

[RIpats88]

I guess i dont see s being the nail in he coffin like so many mediots are going on about. Tom e curran even going as far as this defense will revert all the way back to week 1.

hightower is a great player but the defensive problems were mainly in the secondary and communication.

I expect after another solid performancee the doom and gloomers will calm down

 

[supafly]

They should have told him to get surgery and held him out.

He was under contract in mid-March, so that would have been 7.5 months ago. Had he been PUP’ed, he’d have been eligible to return after week 6, but they may have used the 3 week window to allow him to practice and return after the bye. That would’ve given him a full 8 months of rest. Not sure how long the recovery period is for that type of injury.

Either way, he would’ve missed at least 1/2 of the season. I guess they thought the gamble was worth it, or like Howe and others have said, they likely had hoped that he could get through the season and address it after the year was up.

 

[Kargetina]

Hightower is a very important player in our history, making a few iconic plays that will live in infamy. Great player, great guy, great leader for the defense.

But sentimental reasons aside, i really don't think this will be nearly as big of a loss as it seems at first sight.

He's a seemingly irreplaceable and productive player and yet only two teams gave any interest this summer and both teams gave up when they saw that he already had a peck tear. So, homer glasses off, did Hightower play at a high level this year? Was he dependable? I really don't think so.

And considering he already had a MCL sprain this year and a partially torn peck, was such an injured player our only hope for the defense? It was only a matter of time when someone who's job is to tackle and has a 55% torn peck, would tear it completely.

A healthy player with less talent is going to be more productive than a player with multiple injuries. Just like a disciplined player with less talent will always be more important than a freelancing one.

Where we lose the most is his leadership in the midst of battle. But David Harris can do a decent a job of that and the trade deadline is still active.

As long as we have Tom Brady and Bill Belichick, we will always be a Super Bowl contender. Next man up.

 

[FourierSeries]

Me over cutler would be a major improvement.
Cutler was holding back a talented offense. We will see what Moore does, he already made them look a ton better.

Yeah, I'm not so sure about that.

 

[luuked]

hightower is a great player but the defensive problems were mainly in the secondary and communication.

After all those rewatch threads we did I think it was pretty obvious that the biggest issue of the early weeks was the front 7. Which is pretty much when they did their 3-2-5 experiments and had HT on the edge. With him returning to play LB coincidentally (?) everything started to calm down.

Apart from the busted coverages -- that seemed to have stopped for now -- the secondary has played reasonably well so far. I am more concerned about losing HT than I was about Rowe & Gilmore being out. He is the closest equivalent to McGinest on this team and his loss is big.

Anyway, on we go...

 

[dafoe2016]

Agree. The way

Hightower is a very important player in our history, making a few iconic plays that will live in infamy. Great player, great guy, great leader for the defense.

But sentimental reasons aside, i really don't think this will be nearly as big of a loss as it seems at first sight.

He's a seemingly irreplaceable and productive player and yet only two teams gave any interest this summer and both teams gave up when they saw that he already had a peck tear. So, homer glasses off, did Hightower play at a high level this year? Was he dependable? I really don't think so.

And considering he already had a MCL sprain this year and a partially torn peck, was such an injured player our only hope for the defense? It was only a matter of time when someone who's job is to tackle and has a 55% torn peck, would tear it completely.

A healthy player with less talent is going to be more productive than a player with multiple injuries. Just like a disciplined player with less talent will always be more important than a freelancing one.

Where we lose the most is his leadership in the midst of battle. But David Harris can do a decent a job of that and the trade deadline is still active.

As long as we have Tom Brady and Bill Belichick, we will always be a Super Bowl contender. Next man up.

I agree. The way many people in the media are talking about it you would think Reggie White or Lawrence Taylor just went down. I guess sensationalism is what gets the clicks. A bit disappointing to see Curran jumping on that train. He's one of the few Boston media members that isn't a complete sleazebag.

 

[turkeyneck]

Hightower is a very important player in our history, making a few iconic plays that will live in infamy.

 

[DarrylS]

Have always contended that the NFLPA should commission a longitudinal study on the effects of injuries the following season, as it always seems the year after the Pats play a 19-20 game season there are more injuries that usual.. not sure if it is true for other teams in the same situation..

May give credibility for not adopting an 18 game season.. these guys need time to recover from this sport and often do not get this opportunity when playing into February..

 

[RobertWeathers]

I guess i dont see s being the nail in he coffin like so many mediots are going on about. Tom e curran even going as far as this defense will revert all the way back to week 1.

hightower is a great player but the defensive problems were mainly in the secondary and communication.

I expect after another solid performancee the doom and gloomers will calm down

I can't even believe I'm saying this but Felger is right here. Pats will still go 13-13 or 12-4. The D will suffer a bit but they'll still improve and be ok.

He contends they will miss him in the playoffs when that "gotta have it" play is needed.

I tend to agree.

 

[Nehalem]

Yea Rand was 31. Only can rationalize the signing as he was generational which he was

And even Randy Moss didn't make it all the way through his 3 year contract.

 

[Nehalem]

Have always contended that the NFLPA should commission a longitudinal study on the effects of injuries the following season, as it always seems the year after the Pats play a 19-20 game season there are more injuries that usual.. not sure if it is true for other teams in the same situation..

May give credibility for not adopting an 18 game season.. these guys need time to recover from this sport and often do not get this opportunity when playing into February..

I remember looking at the 2015 Patriots IR list and a lot of the injured players were either not with the Pats in 2014, or not significant contributors to the playoff run.

 

[RobertWeathers]

And even Randy Moss didn't make it all the way through his 3 year contract.

Yep but it wasn't due to injury but rather Rand po'd b/c BB wasn't talking to him about extending him beyond 2010.

 

[VJCPatriot]

Losing Hightower is huge loss. Leadership and versatility on defense was a big plus for us when he was on the field. He also came up with big plays, sacks, pressures, tackles, etc. when the game was on the line.

So who steps into his shoes?

 

[long distance]

Hightower is a very important player in our history, making a few iconic plays that will live in infamy. Great player, great guy, great leader for the defense.

But sentimental reasons aside, i really don't think this will be nearly as big of a loss as it seems at first sight.

He's a seemingly irreplaceable and productive player and yet only two teams gave any interest this summer and both teams gave up when they saw that he already had a peck tear. So, homer glasses off, did Hightower play at a high level this year? Was he dependable? I really don't think so.

And considering he already had a MCL sprain this year and a partially torn peck, was such an injured player our only hope for the defense? It was only a matter of time when someone who's job is to tackle and has a 55% torn peck, would tear it completely.

A healthy player with less talent is going to be more productive than a player with multiple injuries. Just like a disciplined player with less talent will always be more important than a freelancing one.

Where we lose the most is his leadership in the midst of battle. But David Harris can do a decent a job of that and the trade deadline is still active.

As long as we have Tom Brady and Bill Belichick, we will always be a Super Bowl contender. Next man up.

Can't argue with last sentence of course but let's not sell Hightower, his current contributions and his loss short.

Hightower or better the use of Hightower might be the single most important part of D improvement in the course of last 3 games IMO. He took over leadership, communication (of the whole D not just up front) and offered his versatility as all-round front 7 player. Maybe his “statistical production“ was not at pro-bowl level but he made everyone else play better . not only through leadership and communication, also through doing the dirty jobs so others could make plays. On top of that he did make a few crucial plays of this period like in every important game/moment for Pats.
___

55% torn peck is not a fact so its sort of futile to speculate about it. Nobody here or in the media even knows what 55% torn peck really means. He was obviously hurt, they were obviously very careful with him in preseason, he was obviously not in best form starting the season . one can even speculate one of the reasons they put him @DE-only early to lessen the risk of peck tear and break him in gradually (like they did with Gronk last year using him a few games just on the line) . but these are all useless speculations.

The fact is he was showing good form last 3 games playing all over front 7. Can't remember big missed tackles or run stops that would suggest “55% torn peck“ or him holding back..
__

I believe the D can continue to improve despite the big loss. But it will take a lot of stepping up and focus. The main gel of the gelling is gone. But the responsibility, confidence, team effort that he helped bringing along should remain. Hopefully the process continues w/o him. And even if this is his “only“ contribution this year . it is very much worthwhile..


ps
Agreed about “leadership in the midst of battle“ being the biggest loss. Hopefully they can find compensation for that as well..

 

[long distance]

 

[The Brandon Five]

Me over cutler would be a major improvement.
Cutler was holding back a talented offense. We will see what Moore does, he already made them look a ton better.

Miami failed to score a single point last night. Not disagreeing with you about Cutler, but maybe the problems run deeper.

 

[AtomicDawg]

 

[DaBruinz]

As are a number of other positions...

And just what other positions are going to be a high priority this off-season.. Please do tell since you seem to be a wonderwiz of knowing what's going to happen..

 

[DaBruinz]

They should have told him to get surgery and held him out.

I'm guessing you're the type of fan who only pays attention during the season and doesn't really know much about the NFL beyond the games..

- Players have to take a physical after their season ends and before the new league year starts. So the Patriots would have known about the tear prior to Hightower becoming a Free Agent.

- A partial tear doesn't have to have surgery and NO TEAM can force a player to get surgery. The Patriots and Hightower probably felt that R&R would allow it to heal on its own.

- If I remember correctly, Hightower was limited in OTAs and Spring drills. He also started TC on the PUP list and wasn't removed until August 22nd. That gave him from February through August (nearly 6 months) for his pec to heal.

- We don't know if Hightower's pec was 100% or not after coming off the PUP list. It could have been and just been re-injured. Those things happen. Just look at the players who have torn the same ACL multiple times. Dion Lewis being the first that comes to mind. And this would apply to him having had surgery as well. He could have torn his pec even after having had surgery..

 

[DaBruinz]

I remember looking at the 2015 Patriots IR list and a lot of the injured players were either not with the Pats in 2014, or not significant contributors to the playoff run.

There were plenty of injuries that didn't result in a player going on the IR that hurt their play. The fact that 16 of 17 O-linemen they had that year ended up injured and missing time that year is proof of that.