The New England Patriots allowed six sacks on quarterback Drake Maye in the Super Bowl, and their rookie left tackle was largely responsible.
Super Bowl LX was an offensive slugfest for three quarters, though the Seattle Seahawks ultimately won 29-13 with a much more complete performance than the New England Patriots. Several players did not play well for the Patriots, mainly, rookie Will Campbell. Campbell declined to speak to reporters following the loss, which, fair enough. He played a large role in allowing New England quarterback Drake Maye to be sacked six times in the loss. It was a poor enough performance to make noise louder around Campbell moving to center or guard.
That was a projection for several teams when he came out of LSU last year and was the Pats No. 4 overall pick. Head coach Mike Vrabel showed off his ability to be a players coach, backing his rookie left tackle in Tuesday’s end-of-season news conference.
"Will is 22 years old, he's our left tackle, he'll get better, he'll get stronger," Vrabel said Tuesday. "There are moments he played well, moments he blocked the guy, there are plays he'd like to have back.
Here is the full story from Pats Roundtable writer Tyler Geis on the magnified criticism surrounding Campbell and whether it’s really warranted.
Vrabel confirmed and reiterated that he’s not moving to guard, center, “or tight end or anywhere else.” In the postseason, Campbell was not good and had a lot of blocking miscues. However, pre-MCL injury this season, Campbell was a much different player ahead of that Week 12 injury. He’ll look to bounce back with Vrabel’s full confidence in his sophomore season.