[W]e took note during Thursday’s practice that Hightower was playing a bit more on the line of scrimmage, sometimes rushing off the right edge. When considering a starting linebacker trio of Jerod Mayo, Jamie Collins and Hightower in the base defense, I’ve previously projected Hightower to the middle in a Brandon Spikes-type downhill thumper role. But the Patriots coaches might see it differently, preferring to keep signal-caller Mayo in the middle, flanked by Collins and Hightower. That would give Hightower a chance to play on the line of scrimmage at times in an outside linebacker/defensive end-type role, and potentially rush the passer more. That could be best suited to his skill set, even though we haven’t seen Hightower do much of that the past two years.