Report: Ja’Whaun Bentley Out for the Season With Torn Pec

The New England Patriots opened up a practice squad spot with a handful of transactions on Monday. Now it appears the Patriots could have a huge hole to fill on their 53-man roster as well. According to reports, linebacker Ja’Whaun Bentley is out for the remainder of the season with a torn pectoral muscle.

NFL Network’s Ian Rapaport was the first to report the situation.

#Patriots standout LB Ja'Whaun Bentley’s injury is worse than publicly known, and sources says he’s out for the season with a torn pec.

Bentley had more than 100 tackles in each of the last three seasons and was on his way again. A brutal reality. pic.twitter.com/ysMGlNCwkR

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) September 16, 2024

Bentley left the Patriots Week 2 game against the Seattle Seahawks after playing only ten defensive snaps. The New England Patriots originally listed Bentley as questionable to return with a shoulder injury before downgrading him to out later in the game.

Loss of  Leader

If reports are accurate, Bentley would be a huge loss to the Patriots on and off the field. Ja’Whaun Bentley is in his fourth consecutive season as one of the Patriots team captains. He is also an incredibly productive player, having recorded over 100 tackles each of the past three seasons.

Over the past four seasons (2020-2023), Bentley amassed 439 tackles (235 solo) with 10.0 sacks. Seven NFL players have at least 400 tackles and 10.0 sacks this decade, with Bentley being the only one awaiting his first Pro Bowl nod. Sadly, it appears that will need to wait at least one more year.

The Patriots drafted Bentley in the fifth round of the 2016 NFL Draft. He has played his entire NFL career for New England, winning two Super Bowls. He is signed through the 2025 season.

The New England Patriots linebackers need to pick up the slack in Ja’Whaun Bentley’s absence. That means more snaps for the likes of Raekwon McMillan and Christian Elliss, while Joe Giles-Harris could receive a promotion from the practice As more information becomes available, it will be updated here.