Benitez has raised eyebrows by leaving both Mitrovic and Shelvey on the bench for Newcastle’s last two matches.
However, Shearer believes that the Spanish manager was right to take the two high profile players out of the team.
“It's taken him a while to understand his players, but he's left big players out. Aleksandar Mitrovic is out, Jonjo Shelvey is out,” Shearer said. “They're out for a reason. They've not given enough to the team.
"He's changed it and he deserves credit for that.”
Mitrovic has generally been used as a back up option by Benitez since he took charge.
However, Shelvey’s exclusion came as a major surprise, as he was named as captain during Benitez’s initial few weeks in charge.
The pair will be hard pressed to argue that Benitez’s decision to drop them was incorrect, though, as their results have improved considerably in recent times.