The New England Patriots 29-13 loss to the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl LX on Sunday night was a bad day for every player on the Pats, but no one had it worse in the public eye than rookie offensive tackle Will Campbell. Campbell allowed 14 pressures on quarterback Drake Maye, the most of any O-lineman in the entire 2025 NFL season.
To make matters worse, the rookie declined to speak to the media following the loss.
He did speak to the media on Tuesday though, as the Patriots returned back to Foxborough for their end-of-season meetings. Campbell made an apology for his actions after the game Sunday.
“When I get emotional, I tend to have no mind,” Campbell 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.”
Campbell also spoke on his own performance for the first time.
“It comes with the job. 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,” Campbell said. “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.”
Maye Defends Campbell After Poor Super Bowl Performance
Maye and Campbell have formed a special bond as teammates in the last year. The two are great friends and have been spotted together at Boston Celtics games and in plenty of pictures and videos on social media.
Always defending his guys, Maye went out on a limb to defend Campbell after he had a bad showing in the Super Bowl.
“It’s a pleasure going out there with [Campbell] every time,” Maye said. “I know it’s probably been a long year for the rookies, a long year for [Campbell], a long year for these guys to get adapted to playing in the NFL. I think [Campbell] is a great case of somebody who has experienced it all, the ups and downs, the injury side of it, the long times when you don’t want to talk to media but you have to, or the expectations of a first round pick.
I think he’s dealt with so much this year, it’s only going to be great for him in the future. He’s going to be a great player in this league, he already is a great player in this league. I look forward to seeing him in the offseason, hanging out with him… I love [Campbell] and I look forward to playing with him for a long time.”
Campbell’s Future With New England
As has been reported and confirmed by Campbell himself, he wasn’t at 100 percent after suffering an MCL sprain late in the season.
“It obviously wasn’t 100 percent,” Campbell said of 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.”
Campbell’s poor performance has led to much speculation in the last few days about how to move forward with him. Many have called for him to move from tackle to guard, as his skill set may be more useful in the middle of the line. It would be an unfortunate shift to have to move a first round tackle to a less premium position so early in his career, so my guess is that he’ll be given another shot at tackle.
Wherever he’s playing next season, there is surely plenty of work to be done in the offseason.
Patriots Rookie Will Campbell Breaks Silence on Super Bowl Criticism