While the New England Patriots’ exceeded expectations this season, one notable player that didn’t was rookie offensive tackle Will Campbell, whose struggles contributed to the Patriots losing to the Seattle Seahawks in one of the worst offensive showings in Super Bowl history.
Less than 48 hours after Super Bowl LX, Campbell revealed to reporters that he played with a torn ligament in his knee during the season and was not 100% during the playoffs. That would help explain his highly-publicized struggles during the postseason that included allowing 14 pressures (a 26.9% pressure rate) and one of Seattle’s six sacks of Drake Maye in the Super Bowl.
“It comes with the job,” Campbell said of the outside criticism. “When you don’t perform, obviously, I was (drafted) high, paid a lot. So people expect a certain thing, and I expect more of myself. So whenever I don’t perform, I don’t expect everyone to be like, ‘It’s OK, buddy.’ I mean, obviously it sucks. But it doesn’t suck for anyone more than it sucks for me.”
After the Super Bowl, Campbell made more headlines after he declined to speak to the media, something that he apologized for on Tuesday.
“When I get emotional, I tend to have no mind,” he said. “And that’s not the way that I need to approach this thing. I know myself, and if I would have spoken after, I would have said something that I didn’t need to say.”
While Campbell didn’t have his best day against Seattle, he wasn’t the only Patriots’ offensive player who can make that claim. Specifically, it was a forgettable outing for Maye, whose three turnovers set up 17 of Seattle’s 29 points. Maye seemed tentative in terms of his decision-making until the game was already somewhat out of reach.
Maye was hoping to make history by becoming the youngest starting quarterback to win the Super Bowl. Instead, he made unwanted history by breaking Joe Burrow’s postseason record for times…
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