New England Patriots starting left tackle Will Campbell suffered an MCL injury in Week 12, which required him to be carted off the field with a towel draped over his head and a look of disbelief on his face. This landed the rookie on injured reserve for five weeks until he made his return in Week 18.
Campbell has played in four games since returning from a stint on IR, but he said it wasn’t until the AFC Championship Game that he felt comfortable and confident with himself being back on the field playing like himself again.
During an open media availability session (h/t @bradypenn21) at the team hotel on Tuesday, Campbell said that his play operation is finally back to where it needs to be.
“I didn’t play for five weeks. When I did get hurt, I felt like I was playing pretty good ball," Campbell said. "Obviously, I was disappointed to get hurt and things like that, and I just felt like last week was the first week that I felt like myself back out there. Just moving around, I had everything- my timing, everything was down. I was just excited.”
Will Campbell Has Returned to Form in Time to Help with Patriots' Super Bowl Dreams
Throughout the playoffs, Campbell has gone against some of the most elite pass rushers that the NFL has, with Khalil Mack, Will Anderson, and Nik Bonitto. In his first two playoff games against the Los Angeles Chargers and the Houston Texans, he was responsible for four sacks on 10 pressures. However, in the AFC Championship Game against the Denver Broncos, Campbell had a near shutout, allowing only one total pressure and one quarterback hit throughout the game.
Furthermore, Campbell allowed pressure rates of 17.2%, 12.1%, and 15.0% in his three playoff games. He finished the regular season with an 11.6% pressure rate, which was slightly above the league average of 10.1%, according to NFL Next Gen Stats.
Despite his struggles in the playoffs, Campbell's return to form just ahead of the Super Bowl is following exactly what the plans were for the Patriots when they first put him on IR on Nov. 26. And even with his struggles, the Patriots still went 3-0 in the playoffs to land themselves in the Super Bowl.
That said, the offense hasn’t looked the best, but their defense is leading the way for them in the playoffs.
It’s not going to get any easier for Campbell in the Super Bowl against the Seattle Seahawks and their defense that sacked the quarterback 47 times, tied for the seventh-most in the NFL this season. Campbell is going to have to deal with one of the most dominant edge rushers in the league, with DeMarcus Lawrence, who had the fourth-most sacks (6), the most tackles for loss on the team (11), and he led the NFL by returning two fumble recoveries for touchdowns.
The Seahawks also feature two dominant defensive tackles in Leonard Williams and Byron Murphy, and another disruptive linebacker in Uchenna Nwosu, all of whom finished with seven sacks in the regular season to lead the team. As a unit, Seattle’s defense allowed the least amount of yards per play in the regular season (4.6), and they ranked sixth overall with 25 total turnovers.
Campbell is going to have his hands full in this game, there’s no doubt about it. But if he can remain solid for just one more game and continue to build off the positive momentum from the AFC Championship Game against the Broncos, then New England’s offense will have more of a chance to be successful, while the defense can continue to lead them to victory.