Report: Dont'a Hightower Working With Alex Guerrero On Injured Knee
BOSTON (CBS) -- Tom Brady's trainer Alex Guerrero has worked with a number of Patriots players since forging his partnership with the five-time Super Bowl-winning quarterback. Linebacker and defensive captain Dont'a Hightower is the latest to add Guerrero's training to his routine.
According to the Boston Herald's Jeff Howe, Hightower has been working with Guerrero this offseason to "build strength in his knee" before the start of the 2017 season. Hightower has sat out all 12 Patriots training camp practices on the physically unable to perform (PUP) list and also sat out the team's spring workouts. He can be activated from the PUP list at any time, but cannot be put back on once removed.
Hightower, who signed a four-year extension with the Patriots worth up to $43.5 million, has missed 11 games in the past three seasons, often dealing with knee issues. He mostly played through a meniscus injury in 2016, but missed Weeks 2-3 and 16. He played all three playoff games, making a major impact in the Patriots' comeback win over the Falcons in Super Bowl LI.
The Patriots' primary defensive signal caller is still working with the Patriots' strength & conditioning staff, according to Howe. He has been working on a side field during Patriots practices.
Guerrero, who has been billed in recent years as Brady's "body coach", has a history of questionable business practices that have gotten him in trouble with the Federal Trade Commission. His former company 6 Degree Nutrition once marketed a product called NeuroSafe, which was billed as a "seatbelt for your brain" and claimed to help prevent concussions. Brady previously endorsed the product, which got taken off the shelves when the FTC shuttered 6 Degrees Nutrition in 2012.
However, Guerrero has avoided legal trouble in recent years and now runs the TB12 Training Center at Patriot Place in Foxboro, where he and Brady tout their alternative physical and nutritional training methods. Their work will be outlined in Brady's upcoming book The TB12 Method.
Tight end Rob Gronkowski joined the list of Patriots players to train with Guerrero this offseason as he works toward better monitoring his health amid an injury-plagued career. Receiver Danny Amendola has lauded Guerrero's training methods, telling the Providence Journal in 2014 that the trainer "does a great job of getting you back to where you're able to recover quickly and get back on track."
Guerrero's training will be under an even bigger microscope in 2017 when the oft-injured Hightower and Gronkowski take the field for the Patriots.
