FOXBORO — The Patriots have a new head coach in Mayo and a new defensive coordinator in DeMarcus Covington, but linebacker and defense captain Ja’Whaun Bentley still believes the team’s defense is ahead of the curve this offseason.

The unit is bringing back 10 of their top 11 snap-leaders from 2023 in Bentley, safeties Kyle Dugger and Jabrill Peppers, linebacker Jahlani Tavai, defensive linemen Christian Barmore, Davon Godchaux, Deatrich Wise and Keion White, cornerback Jonathan Jones and outside linebacker Anfernee Jennings. Also back are cornerback Christian Gonzalez and outside linebacker Matthew Judon, both of whom suffered season-ending injuries early in the year, and outside linebacker Joshua Uche, who took on a reduced role last season.

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The Patriots’ defense finished last season ranked ninth in expected points added (EPA) against per play despite receiving little help from its offense.

“You have little tweaks and things like that whether it’s lingo, changing certain things,” Bentley said after losing head coach Bill Belichick and linebackers coach Steve Belichick. “Obviously, defense that we kind of had last year, we have a lot of those guys back. So, that’s big. Not really changing too much, really just evolving, which we already have, which is huge. So now instead of going back to Step 1, you’re kind of already on Step 6 or 7 because in OTAs you really kind of dial it back a little bit. But it’s good to have similar guys. …

“We have a lot of guys back. So we’re bringing the new guys along. They’re picking up everything fast. We have good vets and good young guys that can learn on the fly a little bit. That’s big for us. It’s helping us move in the right direction.”

The Patriots’ top defensive additions are linebacker Sione Takitaki, defensive tackle Armon Watts and safety Jaylinn Hawkins. They drafted cornerback Marcellas Dial out of South Carolina in the sixth round of the 2024 NFL Draft.

The team also added defensive line coach Jerry Montgomery, outside linebackers coach Drew Wilkins, inside linebackers coach Dont’a Hightower and quality control coaches Vinny DePalma and Jamael Lett. They retained cornerbacks coach Mike Pellegrino and safeties coach Brian Belichick.

Dugger, Barmore, Jennings and Uche all recently signed new contracts with the Patriots.

Bentley said he couldn’t speak for the offense, a unit that’s implementing an entirely new system under offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt.