PATRIOTS LINEBACKER DONT'A HIGHTOWER

Q: How did it feel to be out here in the heat for joint practices?

DH: It feels good, man. Ain't no sunshine like Tennessee sunshine, but it felt good, man. It was a little warmer than we're used to a little bit, but it's good for us, something we haven't gotten to see a lot of this year. It was good. I think guys wanted to come out and compete, both for us and the Titans as well.

Q: It seemed intense going through drills, did it feel that way to you?

DH: I mean, it just felt like practice. When you've got a bunch of grown men out there, when you push a guy too many times, I'm sure something's going to come up. But I think all in all, again, both sides just wanted to come out and play the way that they were capable of, and just to come out and compete against one another.

Q: Talk about having so many familiar faces on the other side of the field, particularly Dion Lewis, coming off of a game where they beat you last year.

DH: It's good, I guess. What you said – we've played with them before and whatever, and it's good to see them. 

Q: Did you miss the Tennessee heat?

DH: I love everything about Tennessee, so I'd be lying if I said – I'm more of a heat guy than a cold guy.

Q: Did the defense look good today, before you look at the tape?

DH: I'm not here to try to evaluate or whatever, but we definitely competed and that's one thing we want to do. We can fix mental mistakes and errors, but you can't fix effort, and that's something that we're very prideful about. A lot of guys came in and competed and ran around today.

Q: Did the heat have any effect on the tempo of practice today? Did you have to take more breaks?

DH: I guess they just ran practice the kind of way that the Titans run it. I'm sure guys were glad to see that break at whatever point we got them, but all-in-all, I think guys are just concentrating between periods. Just trying to take advantage of whatever role they get, being able to go up against somebody new, somebody that we haven't seen the entire time in training camp. So it's always good to come out and have these joint practices.

Q: How different was it going against this scheme compared to Detroit last week?

DH: It's good, it's different. Obviously, their philosophies are different – Detroit and Tennessee – but it's all with a lot of stuff that we're going to want to see, and stuff we'll probably see during the season. Like I said, going against our offense for however many weeks and then being able to go against Detroit, and now being here against the Titans – it's good for us as a defense to be able to see as many multiple philosophies as we can.