The defensive room for the New England Patriots is not as littered with veterans as it once was. But despite still having the experience of Devin McCourty, Lawrence Guy and even Matthew Judon in the building, it's been Ja'Whaun Bentley who has played a pivotal role in the communication on that side of the ball.
"I'm not going to lie, Bent is our leader," Judon said last week in reference to the fifth-year linebacker. "Eight is our leader, and we're all rallying behind him."
Those comments were followed up by head coach Bill Belichick and linebackers coach Jerod Mayo on Monday with the Patriots holding their 12th training camp practice. The Carolina Panthers come to town for joint practices Tuesday.
"Ja'Whaun's got great leadership ability, I think you saw that all the way -- however far you want to go back -- but even going back to DeMatha, high school, and his role there and some of the things we talk about in high school, then of course at Purdue," Belichick said, per a team-provided transcript. "... He's really come in and grown from his rookie year. He's had a very strong voice, but not overpowering. But he has really good leadership. Each year it's gotten better."
Bentley, who enters is age-26 season, signed a two-year contract to remain in New England this offseason. Previously playing in a crowded linebacker room with Dont'a Hightower, Kyle Van Noy, Jamie Collins and others, Bentley now has the chance to lead the group.
"It's his room. It's his room," Mayo said of Bentley, who sits atop the linebacker depth chart with first-year Patriot Mack Wilson, Josh Uche and Judon. "He's done an excellent job for us in the classroom. He's done an excellent job coming out here and being ready to go. It's been good."
Mayo, as Belichick did, also credited Bentley's development year over year. The Patriots head coach continued to compliment his current training camp especially given Bentley's new role paired with an increased workload.
"This year, he's had an outstanding training camp. He's a very smart player, he understands situations, calls, adjustments -- knows how to apply them and does a great job of communicating," Belichick said. "He's a very good communicator. I know Jerod (Mayo) and Steve (Belichick) have spent a lot of time with him and encouraged that. Of course, Jerod was probably the best communicator on defense we've ever had here, so I'm sure that Bent's learned a lot from him, but at the same time, he has a lot of those natural qualities himself.
"He's done a great job for us. I'm really glad we have him," Belichick added. "He and Devin (McCourty) do a great job of leading the defense: Bentley in the front seven, McCourty in the back end. And they work together well."
Bentley finished the 2021 season with a career-best 109 tackles while starting all 16 games he played in. He added one sack and five tackles for loss with three forces fumbles.
Given how the Patriots allowed veteran linebackers to walk out the door while fixating on youth and speed, Bentley almost certainly will see a larger snap count than previous seasons. He played 73% of defensive snaps in 2020 and 69% of defensive snaps in 2021.
And all indications are that the Patriots are confident in him doing so.
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