Patriots' Will Campbell Explains Why He Ducked The Media After Nightmare Super Bowl Performance
The rookie left tackle was bad.
When a left tackle is noticeable on the football field, it means that the team's offense is in store for a long, long day, which is exactly what unfolded for the New England Patriots during Super Bowl LX.
It was no secret heading into Sunday's game against a nasty Seattle Seahawks defense that Will Campbell was going to have his hands full; but there is a difference between having your hands full and getting absolutely obliterated time and time again on the biggest stage the football world has to offer.
The rookie left tackle allowed 14 pressures during Sunday's contest. If that seems like a big number, it's because it is, as it stands as the most any player allowed in a single game during the entire season. With New England only possessing the ball for 26:49 in the Super Bowl, those 14 pressures look that much worse.
READ: The Five Worst Super Bowls Of The 21st Century
After his performance against Seattle, Campbell opted to skip out on talking with the media. He's not the first player, nor will he be the last player, to duck reporters after a poor performance in the Super Bowl, but nevertheless, him not speaking after his team's 29-13 loss raised some eyebrows.
On Tuesday, Campbell spoke with Mark Daniels of MassLive, and explained his reasoning behind not speaking to the media right after the game.
"When I get emotional, I tend to have no mind, and that's not the way that I need to approach this thing," Campbell said. "I know myself, and if I would have spoken after, I would have said something that I didn't need to say. So, I slept on it, I watched it. I know what I got to get better at and move on."
Will Campbell did not do Drake Maye any favors in the Super Bowl. (Imagn Images)
Campbell had missed four games during the regular season after suffering an MCL injury in Week 12, which he admitted that his knee wasn't at 100 percent for Sunday's Super Bowl.
"It obviously wasn’t 100 percent," Campbell said, referring to his knee. "I mean, I don’t think when you tear a ligament in your knee, it’s not going to be how it was before, but I was healthy enough to go. I’m not going to say that it held me back, but yeah, it wasn’t the same as it was before, obviously. But I was good."
After Campbell's bad performance in the Super Bowl, discourse about him potentially moving inside on New England's offensive line in the future began, but head coach Mike Vrabel shut it down on Tuesday.
"Will is 22 years old, he's our left tackle, he'll get better, he'll get stronger," Vrabel said Tuesday in his season-ending news conference. "There are moments he played well, moments he blocked the guy, there are plays he'd like to have back.
"We're not moving Will to guard, or center or tight end or anywhere else."
Campbell was selected by the Patriots with the fourth-overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft out of LSU. He'll be a player everyone in the NFL media, along with every New England fan, will be paying very close attention to next season.