Patriots Captain ‘Circled’ Former Teammates In Matchup Vs. Bengals

The Cincinnati Bengals have elite playmakers on the offensive side of the football, whether it's star quarterback Joe Burrow or dynamic wide receiver Ja'Marr Chase, who looks to be trending toward playing in Week 1.

That duo certainly will have the attention of the New England Patriots defense. But Patriots linebacker and captain Ja'Whaun Bentley also has his focus on Cincinnati's offensive line, especially two members of that unit.

They just so happen to be former Patriots teammates of Bentley's as he is eager to go up against Ted Karras and Trent Brown in Sunday's season opener.

"You've got certain guys kind of circled," Bentley told reporters Wednesday, per the Boston Herald's Zack Cox. "Obviously, we know what kind of competitors they are, and they know what kind of competitors we are. So we're excited to get out there, talk some junk back and forth to each other. That makes the game of football fun."

Karras went from primarily a backup center during his two stints with the Patriots to a mainstay up front over the last two seasons with Cincinnati -- he started 33 games over that time. He also was named a captain for a second straight season.

Brown is in a much different situation than Karras as he is set to make his Bengals debut against the Patriots. Brown, who signed a one year, $4.8 million deal with the Bengals in free agency, spent four seasons with New England over two stints with the franchise, including having arguably the best year of his career to help the Patriots en route to a Super Bowl LIII victory. But Brown's tenure with the Patriots came to an unceremonious end last season as questions arose about his effort and the 6-foot-8, 380-pound offensive tackle even called out the organization.

It doesn't sound like there's bad blood between Bentley and his former teammates. Bentley, who is the fifth-longest tenured player on the Patriots behind David Andrews, Jonathan Jones, Deatrich Wise Jr. and Joe Cardona, played with Karras and Brown during each of their stints with the Patriots.

But for the veteran member of New England's defense, it sure would be nice to best them in a game setting rather than on a practice field.