Will Campbell’s NFL debut was solid until things began to unravel late in the second half
The first half was uneventful for Las Vegas's pass rushers. In the second half, they benefitted from rookie mistakes.
FOXBOROUGH – Mike Vrabel squinted his eyes, shrugged his shoulders, and ducked a question about his assessment of rookie left-tackle Will Campbell’s performance in his NFL debut on Sunday.
“I think that’s tough right now,” Vrabel said. “I’ve got to apologize, I’ve got to look at the tape. Again, I’m sure there’s going to be some good plays, some plays we’d like to have back, that he would like to have back.”
“I think that would go for pretty much everybody. I think there was some good football, just certainly not consistent enough in all three phases. That’s kind of what it looked like for me, and I’ll try to give you a little better answer after looking at the tape.”
The No. 4 overall pick seemed to hold his own for the better part of three quarters during New England’s 20-13 loss to Las Vegas. For the most part, Drake Maye had ample time to throw early on. The first half was pretty uneventful for Las Vegas’s defensive line other than a coverage sack from Maxx Crosby.
But, as the game wore on, things began to unravel for Campbell. He was involved in two plays that resulted in Maye taking sacks, and he also had a pair of false start penalties, all of which came in the second half.
Standing at his locker in front of a crowd of reporters, Campbell took accountability for the penalties. His timing got thrown off, and the flags did not help as the Patriots attempted to make a late comeback.
“I’ve just got to be better. I can’t jump,” Campbell said. “I’ve got to key into the snap count. I take full accountability. I’ve got to fix it.”
Maye was under pressure from three different directions during the first sack that involved Campbell. He had Malcolm Koonce blitzing off the edge to his right, Crosby attempting to split Jared Wilson and Garrett Bradbury up the middle, and Campbell wrestling with Tyree Wilson to his left.
Sensing the pressure, Maye tried to run forward toward Campbell’s side where Wilson was ready to pounce on him.
Campbell never got a solid grip on Koonce as the Las Vegas linebacker shoved past him and strip-sacked Maye with 6:15 remaining in the fourth.
“I’ve just got to block him,” Campbell said. “It’s nobody else other than me. I’ve got to get better. We’ll watch the tape, learn from it, and fix it.”
Despite the late struggles, Campbell earned some praise from Crosby after the game.
“He’s a top pick. He’s a young, talented dude. He’s got a bright future, and he’s in great hands with Coach [Josh] McDaniels,” Crosby said according to Zach Cox of The Boston Herald. “Coach McDaniels knows what he’s doing. He’s been running great offenses for a long time. He’s all about building guys up and running the football and I think there’s a reason why they drafted [Campbell] there.”
Vrabel opened up a little more when asked about Drake Maye’s performance, saying that the quarterback showed good command but needed more help from his teammates.
The Patriots were largely ineffective in the run game and pinned their hopes on Maye’s right arm as the quarterback logged 46 passing attempts in soggy weather.
Putting the quarterback in that spot, down two scores with a one-dimensional attack is something the Patriots need to avoid, Vrabel said.
Vrabel’s postgame theme stayed consistent. The Patriots weren’t good enough on Sunday, and they needed to be better across the board.
“We all can be better, whether that’s me, the coaching staff, Drake, Will [Campbell] and everybody that you asked about, that’s the attitude that we’re going to take,” Vrabel said. “That’s the belief that we’re going to take. We’re disappointed, but we can’t sit there and hold on to it too long. We’ve got to go on the road and we’ve got to play a division opponent, and we’ve got to embrace moving on. I think that’s what we’re going to try to do.”
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