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Julian Edelman Good To Go Vs. Bills, But Dont'a Hightower Inactive For Patriots

BOSTON (CBS) -- Tom Brady's arsenal is fairly healthy heading into New England's clash with the Bills on Sunday. The defense, however, is down a key member.

Julian Edelman and Rex Burkhead are both active for Sunday's tilt in Buffalo, but linebacker Dont'a Hightower is not.

Hightower was limited all week at practice with a shoulder injury. He went through pre-game warmups but eventually left the field, only to rejoin a group of players who were expected to be inactive.

For the season, Hightower has 12 tackles and 0.5 sacks for the New England defense. With Hightower out, it appears Jamie Collins will wear the green dot on defense.

Here is the full list of New England's inactives for Sunday's game:

It'll be interesting to see how much the Patriots can get out of Edelman, who was limited all week after suffering a chest injury last Sunday against the Jets. He is New England's leading receiver with 17 receptions and 196 yards, with a touchdown to his name as well, but he may be relegated to a decoy role against Buffalo's stout secondary.

It should help that Brady will have both Burkhead and James White out of the backfield. Burkhead will help create some mismatches against Buffalo's linebackers. White missed last week's game for the birth of his son, Xzavier, but should have a big role on Sunday afternoon.

Tune in to Patriots-Bills on WBZ-TV -- the flagship station of the New England Patriots. Following the game, switch over to TV38 for full reaction and analysis on Patriots 5th Quarter!

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