Week 9: Ja'Whaun Bentley, New England Patriots

New England Patriots linebacker Ja’Whaun Bentley, who starred at DeMatha Catholic High School in Hyattsville, Maryland, has been named the DC Touchdown Club Pro Football Player of the Week after leading the Patriots to a 26-3 victory over the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday.

Bentley made nine tackles and had one sack as the Patriots (5-4) were dominant defensively and moved above .500 for the first time this season.

“We had a lot of big plays defensively,” New England Coach Bill Belichick said.

“Ja’Whaun does a great job for us. His communication and ability to run the defense and control the front and make calls – we had different formations that caused us to check things. Everybody has a ton of respect for his preparation and his mindset. He brings it every day, really every play.”

Coming out of DeMatha, Bentley was the DC Touchdown Club 2014 Maryland High School Player of the Year. He was a four-year starter at Purdue University and was selected by the Patriots in the fifth round of the 2018 NFL Draft.

Bentley has spent his entire pro career with New England, helping the team win Super Bowl LIII after the 2018 season. He was re-signed to a two-year, $6 million contract this past offseason.

Last week, Bentley had his second career interception in a 22-17 victory over the New York Jets and he has a pair of 10-tackle games this season.

“Bent is a good football player – whatever we ask him to do, he does really well,” Belichick said. “We’ve asked him to play more on the end of the line than we have in the past and he’s played well there and rushed the passer. Glad we have him, glad we resigned him.”