Patriots’ Ja’Whaun Bentley To Miss Rest Of 2024 Season With Upper-Body Injury

New England Patriots team captain Ja’Whaun Bentley will miss the rest of the season with a torn pectoral after sustaining the injury in the first quarter in the loss to the Seattle Seahawks. The linebacker is considered the quarterback of the new-look Patriots defense, calling out the plays to the other ten players on the field and being the cog between the defensive line and secondary.

Bentley has spent all five seasons in New England, registering over 100 tackles in his last three years as he replaced Dont’a Hightower. During his Tuesday press conference, Patriots head coach Jerod Mayo stated safety Kyle Dugger called the plays after Bentley left the game.

“Communication was good, and it was Dugger. Remember, Dugger did it all last year as well, so it was not anything new for him. I’ve always been a huge believer in a linebacker having the green dot, but I’ll tell you, the way Dugger played yesterday as a whole and being able to handle the communication, he definitely filled in for that role.”

In place of Bentley should be Jahlani Tavai and Raekwon McMillan. Tavai started the first two games alongside Bentley in his fourth season with the Patriots. Tavai began his career in Detroit and has played in 13 or more games since heading east to Foxborough.

McMillan is in his second stint with the Patriots and will gain the most snap share with Bentley going down. He spent his 2023 season with the Las Vegas Raiders and began his career with the Miami Dolphins.

New England hopes their new coach, former Patriots linebacker Jerod Mayo, can coach up the backups to Bentley. Mayo won the first game of his career in an upset victory over the Cincinnati Bengals, 16-10, before dropping the home opener to the Seattle Seahawks in overtime.