FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- The New England Patriots will be without starting linebacker and captain Dont'a Hightower for Sunday's home game against the Los Angeles Chargers, the Boston Herald reported on Wednesday, citing an anonymous source.
Hightower injured his right shoulder in Sunday's win over the Atlanta Falcons while tackling running back Devonta Freeman with 3:06 left in the third quarter. He had remained down briefly after the play and it was clear that he was in pain, yet he stayed in for the next snap, a running play in his direction. Hightower then came off the field for the remainder of the game and watched from the sideline.
The 6-foot-3, 265-pound Hightower had missed games in the second and third week of this season with a knee injury sustained in the third quarter of the season opener. Upon his return, he was used in a part-time role, playing 37 snaps in an Oct. 1 loss to the Carolina Panthers, before seeing his workload increase to 62 and 69 snaps, respectively, over the next two games.
He has been credited with 14 tackles and two sacks this season.
In his absence, the Patriots have Kyle Van Noy, Elandon Roberts, David Harris, Marquis Flowers and Trevor Reilly on their off-the-line linebacker depth chart. Roberts missed Sunday's win over Atlanta with an ankle injury.