Patriots LB Dont'a Hightower to miss remainder of season

According to Ian Rapoport, New England Patriots linebacker Don’t’a Hightower will miss the remainder of the season with a torn pectoral. This news comes just a day after he was ruled out for Week 8. Since entering the league in 2012, Hightower has never ranked outside of the top-15 in overall grade among linebackers.
Hightower has struggled so far this season and currently ranks 99th among edge defenders with an overall grade of 45.7. His role had evidently changed playing nearly 72 percent of defensive snaps on the edge and rushing the passer on 33 percent, both marks significantly higher than last season.
Losing Hightower likely equates to more snaps for Deatrich Wise, who has been an impressive rookie thus far earning an overall grade of 75.0. In a limited role, he has been productive as a pass-rusher generating a pass-rush productivity of 10.4 while racking up 22 pressures on 166 pass-rush snaps.