Dont'a Hightower reflects on return to field: 'It's good'

The return of Dont’a Hightower to the field this week represents the final step in an offseason odyssey for the linebacker, one that started with him celebrating at the Super Bowl and included free agent visits with the Steelers and Jets before a stint on the PUP list at the start of training camp.

But now, he’s back to where he wants to be. On the field in Foxborough, working out with his Patriots’ teammates.



“It’s good," Hightower said Wednesday morning. “I’m glad I didn’t have to relocate. Stressful, but glad it is over with. Glad I'm here. Glad I’m back on the field.”

There were some thoughts about potentially relocating to Pittsburgh or New York. (Perhaps it was because of the cupcakes the Jets brought out the day of his visit, designed as part of a birthday acknowledgment for the veteran?) But in the end, he returned to New England, signing a new deal for four years with the possibility of $45.5 million.

Hightower is happy to be back for several reasons, including the fact that his return to Foxborough means he’ll be able to enjoy a level of continuity he first realized when he started at Alabama as a collegian.

“It’s meant a lot," Hightower said. "I've been here my whole career. It wasn’t a hard change from what I had in college, or whatever. I was definitely used to it. It wasn’t a big change.

"I feel like I have had a lot of success in programs like this. Alabama and New England isn’t too far different. The culture around here, teammates and coaches, everything around here is second to none anywhere. When it came down to making my decision, it wasn’t too hard of a choice.”

As for his health, he says the knee isn’t an issue.

“It’s part of the process," he said of missing roughly three weeks. "I was just rehabbing and coming back from injury, or whatever. Just part of it. I would much rather be over there then be (rehabbing and conditioning). I don’t have to worry about that now. I’m just concentrating on getting better now.”