Patriots offensive lineman Will Campbell became the talk of the town both during and after the Super Bowl, albeit for the wrong reasons. The left tackle, who got beaten regularly off the line, was unable to protect New England’s QB Drake Maye, who was sacked six times for a loss of 43 yards in the game.
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The struggles in the trenches contributed significantly to the Patriots’ loss to the Seattle Seahawks. Maye wasn’t able to get settled or be comfortable while already playing with an injured shoulder.
The quarterback knew that Campbell’s side of the line was giving up pressure repeatedly. It all led to an ugly offensive performance where they couldn’t score a touchdown until the fourth quarter. After the game, Campbell skipped his media sessions. This did not go over well with fans, and they called the rookie out for it. They wanted Campbell to answer for his mistakes.
Now that the loss and the storm in its aftermath have settled, the Pats’ executive vice president, Eliot Wolf, has shed some light on why Campbell might have struggled so badly in the postseason, including the Super Bowl.
“Didn’t see the same level of lower body strength out of Will Campbell after he came back from the knee injury,” Wolf told a Pats beat reporter.
Campbell did tell reporters about his knee injury two days after the Super Bowl. He tore a ligament in his knee during the season (against the Cincinnati Bengals on November 23) and was not at 100% in the playoffs. Now things add up: He indeed looked like a shell of himself during the postseason run.
Patriots EVP Eliot Wolf says he didn’t see the same level of lower body strength out of Will Campbell after he came back from the knee injury.
— Doug Kyed (@DougKyed) February 24, 2026
It’ll be interesting to see how Campbell overcomes the injury in the offseason. It doesn’t seem like he’s going to get surgery. That means he’s going to have to do a lot of physical therapy and work out to re-strengthen the torn ligament.
The good news is that Campbell, 22, is young, and the injury shouldn’t set him back too much. He showed some potential to be a great lineman during his rookie season. However, the knee injury popped up at such an inconvenient time. That said, brighter days should be ahead of him.
For now, Campbell will have to live with his underperformance in the Super Bowl and take the criticism on the chin. It’s not the way he wanted the season to end, but he should get a chance in the future to right his wrongs.
It should give Pats fans some relief that Campbell could still be the guy. The injury might be seen as an excuse, but it’s a reasonable one. Especially with a bad knee, it was likely difficult for him to maintain a stable base while blocking. Expect him to work on correcting this issue going into the 2026 season.
