EAGAN, Minn. — Patriots left tackle Will Campbell continues to ride the rookie rollercoaster as he enters the fourth week of his first training camp.
Campbell labored in Thursday’s joint practice against the Vikings, allowing two would-be sacks and a pressure to Vikings Pro Bowl defensive end Jonathan Greenard during 11-on-11 drills. He also appeared to be flagged for a false start during a two-minute drill.
Still, Greenard, who’s put together back-to-back double-digit sack campaigns, believes in Campbell’s future.
“He’s gonna be a good tackle. I think just with repetition and reps, it’s gonna be really good,” Greenard told the Herald. “He has some really good coaches over there. He’s got some good talent over there to go against, obviously, just keep getting better. But a guy like that needs reps, and that’s all it is. It’s a matter of just getting a feel, learning how to block in this league, learn how to protect yourself, learn how to protect with the chip, learn how to protect where your quarterback is and stuff like that. So repetition is gonna be his greatest asset, for sure.”
Rookie tackles rarely enter the NFL and dominate. Campbell, the fourth overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, has had some textbook moments this summer, but has also struggled at time in pass protection.
“Had some good plays and had some plays where he got beat inside,” head coach Mike Vrabel said of Campbell’s performance in Wednesday’s joint practice. “These are going to happen to young offensive linemen, so we’re not going to sit and evaluate every practice. I’ll let you guys do that, and we’ll go from there and just keep trying to improve.”
The rookie left tackle mostly got beat on the outside Thursday against Greenard.
Campbell asserted himself well in the Patriots’ preseason opener against the Commanders, but he was going against backups.
The rookie out of LSU will face one of his biggest challenges of the season Week 1 when he faces off against Raiders pass rusher Maxx Crosby. These reps against Greenard could be invaluable for the first-round pick ahead of the regular season.
The Patriots otherwise saw changes on their offensive line Thursday with veteran Ben Brown replacing rookie Jared Wilson at left guard. Wilson wasn’t a full participant in practice and left the field ahead of 1-on-1 drills.
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