Schefter: Patriots still hoping that Dont’a Hightower might not be done for the year

There are multiple reports that New England Patriots linebacker Dont’a Hightower is out for the season with a pectoral injury. It’s a devastating loss to a Patriots defense that finally looked good enough to win it all.

And yet the Patriots are still holding out hope that Hightower isn’t definitely done for the year, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter.

We’ll know for certain this afternoon, but this report definitely states that the “Patriots still do not know if [Hightower] will be out for [the] year.” There’s still a chance that it might not be a full-year type of injury, but instead a “cross our fingers he can be back for the postseason injury” like the injury to WR Julian Edelman in 2015.

I’m not going to get my hopes up, but the window is not completely shut and locked for a Hightower return in 2017. We’ll find out when Hightower gets his results back after meeting with Dr. James Andrews.