FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — The New England Patriots will have their hands full Sunday with Bears outside linebacker Khalil Mack, one of the premier pass rushers in today’s NFL.

A three-time Pro Bowler and two-time All-Pro, Mack has five sacks, four forced fumbles and an interception through five games. In Chicago’s loss Sunday at Miami, when Mack suffered an ankle injury, it was the first time he failed to record a sack all season.

Mack is listed as day-to-day leading up to Sunday’s game.

“We’re going to continue to just keep an eye on it and make sure whatever we do we’re more cautious than anything,” said Chicago Coach Matt Nagy.

But should he be compared to the best linebackers of all time? Thirty years ago, New England Coach Bill Belichick coached perhaps the greatest player to ever play Mack’s position in Lawrence Taylor.

So does Taylor and Mack compare at all in Belichick’s eyes? Uh, no.

“Now wait a minute, we’re talking about Lawrence Taylor now,” Belichick said Wednesday. “I’m not putting anybody in Lawrence Taylor’s class, so put everybody down below that.

“And that’s with a lot of respect for a lot of good players now, but we’re talking about Lawrence Taylor.”

Taylor finished his 13-year career with 132.5 sacks and 10 Pro Bowl honors. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1999.

AKIEM HICKS loved his time with the Patriots, but learned a lesson about celebrating early on.

Now a dominant defensive lineman for the Chicago Bears, Hicks had a down year early in 2015 when the Patriots acquired him from the New Orleans Saints. Hicks found a new level of success with the Patriots.

But if he was going to fit in New England, he was going to need to keep his celebrations down.

“When I first got there and I was getting some of my first in-game action, I had made a play, I had like gestured toward the crowd. It was something of a semi-celebration,” Hicks said. “And I got back to the sideline and it was like ‘We don’t do that here.’ And I was like ‘Oh (expletive).’ I guess no celebrations after big plays.”

As his Bears team gets ready to host the Patriots this weekend, Hicks had nothing but positive things to say about his time with the Patriots.

“Loved it, man, absolutely loved it,” Hicks said. “Loved how the organization ran, great coaching, nothing but phenomenal things to say about that organization as a whole, from the top down.”

PRACTICE REPORT: Offensive tackle Marcus Cannon was missing from practice Wednesday, per multiple reports. Cannon suffered a head injury during New England’s 43-40 win over Kansas City on Sunday. LaAdrian Waddle replaced him for the remainder of the game.

Cannon has started five of the Patriots’ six games this season, sitting out their Week 2 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars with a calf injury.