Brian Flores: Losing Dont'a Hightower means 'everyone has to do a little bit more'

FOXBOROUGH — More than anyone, Patriots linebackers coach Brian Flores is cognizant of how the loss of Dont’a Hightower changes the face of the New England defense.



However, Flores sounds like a man who is confident enough in those who remain in the linebackers room that there’s enough talent to get the job done moving forward.

“I think when you lose a player like that, you just kind of band together and everyone has to do a little bit more,” Flores said on Wednesday morning before the Patriots broke for the bye week. “Everyone just has to do a little bit more communication, some of the guys have to play different positions.

“But as a group, if you get can five guys, six guys really (on the same page), and as a group I think we’ve done a decent job of getting that accomplished last game.”

One guy who Flores will be leaning on more going forward is veteran David Harris, who saw a spike in playing time last week. Flores said that despite not playing much at all over the first two months of the season, Harris has been a steadying presence for many of the younger linebackers.

“I’ve seen leadership. He’s a pro’s pro. He comes in, he works hard. He wasn’t playing very much early, but it didn’t change his work ethic and the way he prepared, which is a testament to the player he’s been over the course of his career,” Flores said of Harris.

“He’s definitely a guy who really does everything right. He’ s guy you root for. I have no issues putting him in the game. I have a lot of confidence in him as a player and what he can bring to the table.”

Kyle Van Noy will also be expected to continue to play 95-plus percent of the snaps, both on the edge and inside. To this point in the season, he’s worn the green dot on his helmet more than any other defender. According to Flores, it sounds like that will be the case moving forward for a few reasons, not the least of which is the fact that as Van Noy is the most centrally located defender, it makes the most sense.

“Kyle has done a good job of communication,” Flores said. “As a group, it’s never just one guy. It’s both linebackers or all three linebackers, depending on what we’re in. The safeties are involved. The corners. Everybody has to be involved in that. Kyle just has the device that gets the call from Matt, so obviously. He’s the lead guy from that standpoint. I think he does a good job of getting that out to the rest of the group.

“Somebody’s got to have it, and he’s right in the middle of the defense. He’s centrally located. We talk about that. Centrally located, have to talk to the d-line, the safeties, the corners at time. It’s a good spot to have the green dot, and I think he’s one a decent job so far this year.”

In that vein, one of the things that the Patriots struggled with earlier in the season when Hightower was sidelined was communication. Players in the secondary and at the linebacker position acknowledged that communication wasn’t where it needed to be. While Flores said that’s still the case, he added that it’s always a work in progress.

“It’s never really where you want it to be. Football is an imperfect game,” he said. “I tell the guys all the time the Lombardi quote: 'You strive for perfection and try to reach excellence.' The guys are working at it every day. It’s never going to be where you want it to be, but we just try to get it to a functional level — not a functional level, but a high level. That’s really what we’re looking for.

“It’s tough — teams give us a lot of different looks, and we have a lot of things going on. A few different guys playing different positions. But I think we’ve done a pretty solid job overall. But there’s always room for improvement. Always room for improvement. I’m a stickler for it, having coached safeties and now linebackers. Those groups and centrally located. They have to talk to different positions. We just have to get it done.”