As the New England Patriots prepare for Sunday night’s AFC Championship Game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, former Alabama LB Dont’a Hightower, the team’s defensive captain, is feeling right at home.

In fact, in his five NFL seasons, the ex-Crimson Tide star has never missed an AFC Championship Game. Sunday will mark his fifth-straight appearance in the game with the Patriots.

According to AL.com, Hightower credits his successful career to New England coach Bill Belichick’s no-nonsense philosophy when it comes to game preparation:

“Consistency, I think, has been kind of the same thing that he’s kind of preached all throughout the year,” Hightower said during a press conference this week. “It’s one game at a time, not looking over or past anything else, not feeling the hype, not worrying about things that we can’t control, and we know most of the things that we can control are inside this building. I think everybody does a great job of taking advantage of that whether it’s coming in early or asking questions or doing whatever it may be.

“We all know this is a one-game season and we’re going to do our best and we don’t want to go out after the game and wish that we could have watched a little bit more film or done a few things a little bit different. I think everybody has the right attitude and we’re attacking this thing in the right way.”

Hightower’s defense will have the unenviable task of trying to slow down the Steelers’ explosive offensive trio of QB Ben Roethlisberger, WR Antonio Brown and RB Le’Veon Bell.

If, however, the Patriots defend their home turf and advance to the Super Bowl, Hightower will have to forgo his first Pro Bowl appearance in favor of his second Super Bowl appearance.

That seems like a trade-off the former first-round pick would be more than happy to make, though.