Obviously, emotions run high in the wake of any NFL loss, but at the Super Bowl, everything is magnified. And after a massive struggle in the biggest game of his life, Patriots rookie left tackle Will Campbell–the team’s No. 4 pick in the 2025 draft–was emotional enough that he did not want to face the music.
Campbell, who has been a stand-up player on and off the field for the bulk of his first season in the NFL, was quite the opposite after Sunday’s humbling 29-13 drubbing at the hands of the Seahawks. Rather than face the music and addressing what went wrong in the game, Campbell chose to dodge his shortcomings and slink out without a word.
According to Next Gen Stats, Campbell allowed 14 quarterback pressures on Drake Maye in the loss, as the veteran Seahawks defense repeatedly exposed Campbell (as well as rookie left guard Jared Wilson) by attacking Maye from that side. The 14 pressures were the most allowed by any player this year, in the regular season or playoffs.
Will Campbell Dodged Media Questions After the Game
After the game, Boston Globe reporter Ben Volin wrote on Twitter/X, “While most Patriots players took questions from reporters, LT Will Campbell declined multiple times and left.”
And that’s where Campbell’s night went from bad to worse. Campbell was widely criticized for not facing the music after the difficult defeat. The same guy who amped up Patriots fans by claiming he would “die” for Maye at last year’s draft now left Maye to sit and answer all the questions about the team’s poor performance while Campbell said nothing.
Coach Mike Vrabel acknowledged that the six sacks and the near-constant pressure on Maye were a huge problem. But he did not single out Campbell, as most observers did.
“Sacks are — that’s a team number,” Vrabel said. “Whether we block them every time and the quarterback is responsible or whether there is somewhere to go with the football. There were times throughout there were sacks where somebody got beat, there were times when it was on the quarterback, and there was times where it was on the guys we were throwing to. So I’m sure that one of those three things led to the six sacks that we had.”
GettyHead coach Mike Vrabel of the New England Patriots
Patriots Will Have a Decision to Make
The wider concern for the Patriots, of course, is what to do about Will Campbell going forward. There was concern about him and his arms being too short to play left tackle coming into last year’s draft, and it could well be that his future is at left guard, not at tackle, perhaps with Wilson eventually moving to center.
Of course, that would require the Patriots to find a new left tackle, either in the draft, via trade or in free agency, and those are not easy to find.
Will Campbell Had Knee Surgery After Patriots’ Week 12 Win
It’s worth noting, too, that Campbell was very good–at least above league average–during the regular season before suffering a knee injury against the Bengals in Week 12. It was only after he returned from knee surgery that he began to have his worst weeks–especially in the playoffs, where the competition got much stiffer.
As NFL reporter Ed Werder wrote on Twitter/X: “This postseason, Will Campbell ranks 29th out of 30 qualified tackles in Pass Block Win Rate (83.6%), and Jared Wilson ranks 27th out of 31 qualified guards in Pass Block Win Rate (89.7%) according to ESPN Analytics/NFL Next Gen Stats.”
It’s fair to wonder whether Campbell’s struggles were simply because he was going against tougher players, or whether he was still not 100% after knee surgery.
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