The New England Patriots have placed star linebacker Ja’Whaun Bentley on the injured reserve list, the team has announced.

Bentley suffered a torn pectoral muscle during the Patriots’ Week 2 loss to the Seattle Seahawks and is expected to miss the remainder of the 2024 regular season.

The 28-year-old is a critical piece of New England’s defense and had logged 12 tackles and a half of a sack before getting injured.

Bentley, who played his collegiate football at Purdue, was selected by the Pats in the fifth round of the 2018 NFL Draft.

It took Bentley until his third season to become a full-time starter, when he registered 91 tackles and 1.5 sacks in 13 games in 2020.

The following year, Bentley broke out, appeared in 16 contests and finishing with 109 stops, a sack and three forced fumbles. He continued to show improvement in 2022, racking up 125 tackles, three sacks, an interception and a forced fumble.

Last year, Bentley rattled off 114 tackles, 4.5 sacks and a forced fumble.

Injuries are pretty foreign to the Glenarden, Md. native, as he missed a grand total of two games between 2021 and 2023.

This is a major blow to a Patriots defense that was a strength last season but has already sustained some serious damage in 2024.

New England began the year without defensive tackle Christian Barmore, who is sidelined due to blood clots. The Pats also traded edge rusher Matthew Judon late in the summer, and now, Bentley will likely miss the remainder of the year.

The Patriots’ defense certainly showed signs of slippage in Week 3, as New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers carved up the secondary throughout the game.

New England opened up the season with an impressive win over the Cincinnati Bengals, but has since dropped back-to-back games.

The Pats will take on the San Francisco 49ers this Sunday.