The Patriots defense suffered a serious blow in last Sunday’s overtime loss to the Seahawks when linebacker Ja’Whaun Bentley tore his pectoral muscle.
Bentley will miss the rest of the season as a result of the injury and that will force the team to shuffle players around as they head into Thursday night’s game against the Jets. Linebacker Joshua Uche said the loss “definitely hurts” while Raekwon McMillan expressed the hope that Bentley’s leadership has left the team in position to carry on without him.
“It’s tough. He’s our team captain. He’s our team leader. Everything we do in the linebacker room flows around Bent,” McMillan said, via Karen Guregian of MLive.com. “He’s our guy on defense. He’s been the guy for the last two or three years. He’s the voice of the team. There’s a lot of times everyone on the outside can hear his voice, even though you’re not in the huddle. He did a tremendous job leading us to the point where we have to carry the torch during the season.”
McMillan is in line for a more prominent role with Bentley out and he said he has to “take advantage” of the chance to fill such a big pair of shoes. His ability to do so will help determine who comes out on top in this week’s divisional matchup.
