PHOENIX -- New England Patriots linebacker Dont'a Hightower wasn't quite sure what to think about the team's first two days at Super Bowl XLIX.

"I’ve been seeing more of y’all [reporters] and less of coaches, so I don’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing," he cracked.

That is about to change. The final media availability for players comes Thursday morning (10 a.m. ET), and then all that is left at that point is a Friday morning news conference with Bill Belichick, followed by the annual "state of the NFL" address by commissioner Roger Goodell.

As one would expect based on his role as the leader of the defensive huddle, Hightower has drawn quite a bit of media attention the last few days as he's a key cog in the defensive plan against the Seattle Seahawks.

"[Media day] was probably supposed to be the worst, and it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be," he said. "[I'm] just enjoying it and taking it all in. This is definitely a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. So you definitely try to take it in, but at the same time letting it be a business trip. I’m pretty sure things are going to start picking up as we start to get towards the end of this week.”

As for football X's and O's, one of the things that has stood out with Hightower this season is how much smoother his transition has been in leading the defensive huddle. In 2013, when replacing injured signal-caller Jerod Mayo, he admitted to some growing pains because he was trying to do too much.

"It was a lot different last year," he said. "We didn’t have as much experience up front, but [going through that] helped a lot of guys. It helped Chris Jones. It helped me. It helped Jamie [Collins]. This year was a lot easier. I had Sealver [Siliga], I had V [Vince Wilfork], I had [Alan] Branch, I had Chandler [Jones]; I had a lot of older guys up front to help me. Then there was the secondary. Devin [McCourty] does a tremendous job with communcation and makes sure all the guys in the secondary are lined up right. Then there’s [Darrelle] Revis and [Brandon] Browner, who are such smart guys. Then you throw in Logan Ryan, and there’s a lot of guys who can get the gameplan and understand it, which makes my job a lot easier, as far as getting checks and stuff.”

With more comfort in the job, it has allowed Hightower to do different things on defense, including rushing the passer a bit more than he has his first two seasons. He was credited with 92 tackles by coaches (second on the team) and had six sacks and 12 quarterback hits during the regular season.

"This year I definitely feel that role coming into play a little bit more, with playing that 'joker' position and doing everything," he said. "I think like this year it’s finally starting to click.”