NFL Notebook: Giardi - Why Bentley is the right man for the job

FOXBOROUGH — When the Patriots announced their captains last week, Ja'Whaun Bentley was one of six players named, the third time in the previous four years that his teammates and the coaching staff deemed him worthy. And if we're being fair, the one exception was the year Dont'a Hightower returned after sitting out the 2020 Covid-filled campaign. 

But to former teammate Devin McCourty, he could see the captaincy in Bentley's future back when he was drafted in 2018.

"I knew he could be a leader his rookie year," he told me. "We all did. He carried himself as a vet. He always knew what his job was in all the calls. Quiet but confident. You could tell he was observing and learning, and when his time came where he needed to be more vocal, he did it. Now he's the guy."

Of that, there is no question. When Bentley didn't like what he saw from the Pats defense leading up to the season-opener, he lit into them. Trust me, it got everyone's attention. But that's how the 6th year pro rolls. He's not a volume talker. Instead, he picks and chooses his spots, which have the desired effect.

"Really, when you feel it," Bentley said, explaining his thought process in speaking up. "At the end of the day, your teammates elected you captain because they believe in you, they've seen you, they have seen you work day in and day out and for you being yourself. Once you get a captain or a title or anything like that, that doesn't necessarily mean you have to change how you operate. Because that's why the team selected you: for being yourself. If anything, you step into that even more. Don't shy away from any moments; if you feel something in your heart, go ahead and say it."

"He has seen and waited his turn," Matthew Judon said. "He learned from some great leaders, and I think he's becoming one of those guys that's going to be on the wall here someday, very soon."

The leadership part is unquestioned, but the actual on-field production sometimes gets diminished. Bentley got his first real taste of playing time in his second year in the league, to mixed reviews. His game had some limitations, especially on passing downs, that looked insurmountable. But he's grown since then, assuming starting duties in 2020 and showing improvement year in and year out, to the point where - as one exec told me - there are shades of Hightower. That would typically be sacrilege in these parts, but it's backed by someone who played with the future Patriots Hall of Famer.

"I think so," said McCourty when I asked about the comp. "One thing he (Bentley) was bad at when he first got there was similar to (Jerod) Mayo. He wasn't really a rush guy. He was a straight linebacker. Not anymore. Last year, he was able to play different roles on third down, being on the edge or rushing. Hightower always had the LB and rush stuff down."

A year ago, Bentley had the most quarterback hits and hurries of his career. While he'll never put up Judon or Josh Uche-type numbers in that regard, the fact that he now has that in his bag and has the trust of the staff to stay out there - he played all 66 snaps against the Eagles, for instance - is proof of that growth.

"He does a lot of things that stat doesn't see," added Judon. "Like, if you watch him, the way he comes down, the way he's physical at the line of scrimmage., he punishes offensive linemen; or the way he re-routes people or the way he gets our defense lined up, set, talking with the green dot, that's a lot of responsibility with a guy that's not talked about a lot."

But as Judon added, he gets talked about plenty inside the walls of Gillette Stadium. Bentley's earned his respect, and he's made his place as one of the leaders of this football team.

"Captain is not necessarily what you look for," said Bentley. "It is something that finds you. You just gotta roll with the punches until your time is called."

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Once again, folks are arguing grass vs. artificial turf after the Aaron Rodgers injury. This discussion is and has always been, about one thing: money. The owners don't want to spend it, player safety be damned.

In fact, MetLife changed over its surface this offseason, going from slit-film to FieldTurfCore, a dual-polymer monofilament that is designed to cut back on cleats getting stuck or grabbing the turf, which has long been the complaint about slit-film. 

We had two Achilles injuries this weekend. Rodgers, and J.K. Dobbins. The Ravens' running back's season-ender was suffered on grass, and the league insists that no evidence indicates any kind of turf is more likely to cause these injuries than grass, citing their research that only goes back to 2015.

Yet all these stadiums will gladly turn over their artificial surfaces for natural grass when the big soccer tournaments or International friendlies occur in their stadiums because that's what those teams and organizations require. 

But as soon as those events are over, it's back to the fake grass because it's significantly easier for upkeep and to host other events, such as concerts. Locally, Gillette Stadium hosted one non-football event after another this spring and summer, from multiple nights of Taylor Swift, Bruce Springsteen, Ed Sheeran, and Luke Combs to single shows from Beyonce and, coming up Billy Joel with Stevie Nicks. How much money do you think is generated by those events? But the teams that play there - the Patriots and Revolution - get to run around on the same surface, and unlike the Premier League, for instance, there aren't series of tests run to check the quality of the field. Instead, there's just one, for firmness, as done by the in-stadium field crew and not some independent organization. I wonder why (he questioned, knowing full well the answer)?

File this one under All About the Bucks, baby.

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What a crazy Monday night at MetLife. Rodgers blows out the Achilles, and Josh Allen basically blows the game for the Bills, turning it over four times, including three boneheaded interceptions, the kind where you say, 'What in the world is he doing?'

We usually reserve that stuff for the guy he played against, Zach Wilson, who remains lost. Allen, one of the most talented players at the position, has thrown 20 interceptions in his last 12 games, including three over two games in last year's postseason.

On Wednesday, Allen tried to toe the line between two worlds, playing smart but remaining a playmaker. 

"It's not the first time I've thrown three, and depending how I play in this league  - hopefully, it's a long time - it might not be the last time I ever throw three," he said. 

"All three INTS came in third down situations, so one, try not to be in - we call them red situations - call them third and longer, and two, understanding when to give up. I can sit here and talk about it all I want. I gotta be about it."

Allen has elevated this Bills offense many times over the last few seasons, and it's when he's wearing his cape that has produced some of the most awe-inspiring moments this side of Patrick Mahomes. And sometimes, over Mahomes. But the balancing act is dangerous; recently, Allen hasn't stayed on the beam. For Buffalo to remain the AFC East's top dog and a Super Bowl contender, he will need to figure that out sooner rather than later because as he goes, so go the Bills.

Meanwhile, the Jets have to turn to Wilson. He was ultra-conservative on Monday, but his head coach, Robert Saleh, claims to be confident in the player despite having seen this movie for two years. 

"He's got a lot of self-confidence right now," said Saleh. "The easy stuff doesn't look hard anymore. I mean, he gets back there, and he does the fundamental things so well. His footwork is unbelievable. He had a couple of third-down throws that were… he had three really, really big-time throws from a timing, rhythm, footwork, and eye placement that I thought was super impressive. He had a cool scramble down inside the five-yard line, creating off schedule, he created off-schedule a little bit to (Allen) Lazard on a big play. So, he's done a lot of really good things, but for him, it's just making the easy, easy, and it's something that he's done."

Wilson lost the locker room a year ago, elevating Mike White to god-like status in Jersey primarily because he wasn't Wilson. The team's best offensive weapon, Garrett Wilson, called the 3rd year QB out after that loss in New England to the Patriots, so that's a relationship that bears watching (even as Garrett did his best to encourage Zach Monday). As it is, Garrett had to bail out Zach on his lone touchdown pass (catch of the year? at least catch of week one).

The word is that Zach has matured, both as a person and a player—time to find out if that was accurate or complete bull poop.

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Nerd Numbers: The Patriots have not started 0-2 since 2001. Drew Bledsoe played the first two games at QB, got injured, and was replaced by Tom Brady. Brady couldn't pull out that Jets game but started to fly soon after that. The Patriots finished 11-5 and won Super Bowl XXXVI. In the last five instances of New England losing in Week 1, the Pats are 5-0 in Week 2 and have outscored opponents by 82 points in those games.