After suffering a shoulder injury on Sunday night against the Falcons, Dont’a Hightower is expected to miss some time, starting with the Patriots’ Week 8 matchup against the Chargers.
The Patriots linebacker injured his shoulder in the second half against the Falcons, and was out for the remainder of the game afterwards, along with missing practice on Wednesday. While the severity of the injury is still unknown, it is apparently bad enough to already rule out Hightower for Sunday four days early.
Hightower has been through shoulder injuries before in his career, as he missed two games for a torn shoulder labrum back in 2014. With the Patriots heading into their bye week for Week 9, fans could technically see Hightower back in action against the Broncos in Week 10, depending on the severity of the injury.
The Patriots defense can’t afford to miss too many more players on defense, as they also saw defensive tackle Malcom Brown, cornerback Eric Rowe and linebacker Harvey Langi off the field for practice on Wednesday.