A 3-0 defeat for Newcastle to Brighton last weekend has ramped up the pressure on Bruce, but Mike Ashley is not expected to sack him.
Newcastle sit just two points and a place ahead of the relegation zone and many feel that given their form the club are sleepwalking towards playing in the Championship next season.
There is also talk of a divided dressing room and Bent believes that given the amount of leaks coming out of the club it is clear that some of the Newcastle players are not giving their best for Bruce.
The Newcastle manager has ruled out leaving the club, but Bent admits that if he was in Bruce’s shoes he would have resigned amid the heavy criticism.
Bent said on talkSPORT: “The biggest concern is their unity.
“It looks like so many whispers are coming out of the dressing room and this just tells you that lot of those players are not playing for Steve.
“For Steve himself, what he had to endure with people hammering him from the outside and getting stick from people up there if it was me, I would have resigned for health reasons.”
Newcastle have won just two of their last 18 Premier League games and have been gradually sucked into the relegation dogfight.
