Patriots linebacker relishes opportunity to face Aaron Rodgers twice a year

Most people probably wouldn’t be happy to see a future Hall of Fame player enter their division to compete against. However, that’s not the mindset for Ja’Whaun Bentley, a linebacker for the New England Patriots.

The Patriots are going to see the Jets twice next season, as usual. That means head coach Bill Belichick’s vaunted defense is going to get two shots at Aaron Rodgers. It’s an opportunity that Bentley, at least, is relishing.

“Aaron Rodgers is definitely a fantastic quarterback, for sure. He’s definitely going to add some things to the Jets as far as their offense is concerned,” Bentley told the Boston Herald.

“Hands down, it’s going to be a hell of an opportunity for us to go against him twice a year. But if you ask us, we’re excited about the opportunity. We have no choice but to be excited about it.”

This goes back to one of the many differences between regular people and NFL stars. In the NFL, players thrive on competition and want to compete against the best. There’s no hiding from it here, rather, Bentley sees it as a great opportunity.

Of course, Bentley also probably wishes that the Patriots had the same type of confidence in their quarterback that the Jets do. As Mac Jones enters his third season in the league, there are a lot of rumors circling about his future with the team.

Some of the issues seem to revolve around Belichick refusing to name Jones as the starter for the Patriots. He also, reportedly, shopped Jones this offseason and met with quarterbacks ahead of the NFL Draft.

Bill Belichick has since addressed those rumors, saying, “Yeah, I mean, look, Mac’s been our quarterback for two years. As I tell the team every year, each player, each coach, we all have to re-establish and prove ourselves every year. That’s what this league is. So that’s for all of us. 2023 is 2023 and we’ll see how it goes.”

The Patriots made a trade just to hurt the Jets

During the first round of the 2023 NFL Draft, the Patriots traded back, letting the Pittsburgh Steelers move into their slot. The Steelers then took Broderick Jones, an offensive lineman.

One of the teams that Pittsburgh passed to take Jones was the New York Jets. Incidentally, the Jets were looking for a lineman to help out Aaron Rodgers. However, because of the trade, they panicked and settled for a linebacker.

At least one NFL general manager doesn’t think this was by mistake. In fact, the GM even pointed out that the Patriots took less than they could have gotten for the pick, likely to mess with the Jets.

“They should have had to give up a [third-round pick] and not a four to move up there,” said one NFL general manager. “Belichick did it just to f---- the Jets. He sold low because he knew the Steelers were going to take the kid the Jets wanted to take.”