Patriots OT Will Campbell's Offseason Recovery Has Critical Roster Implications

The New England Patriots' offensive line is tasked with a pretty important job: Keeping Drake Maye upright and healthy all season. It's a daunting task in the NFL, but the team's recent reworkings at the position should inspire confidence.

Part of that confidence leading into 2025 will be about how Will Campbell, entering his second season in the league, can play following a grueling MCL injury last year. He started the year pretty strong, aloowing just five sacks over the team's first 12 games.

It wasn't until a road trip to Cincinnati that the LSU rookie suffered a right knee MCL sprain and was placed on injured reserve for four games. After that, he wasn't the same player. He struggled in the postseason, most notably in the Super Bowl against Seattle's fierce pass rush.

So he now heads into year two with a chip on his shoulder -- that's at least what Maye told us earlier in the offseason. Part of that could come from the ever-constant conversation about how Campbell could be better suited to play guard instead of tackle. After all, the Patriots spent their first round pick on Utah's Caleb Lomu.

Campbell didn't need surgery in the offseason, which should inspire confidence that he could return to his early-season form this year. He told reporters after OTAs that his goal these past few months have been to get fully healthy for 2026.

New England Patriots offensive tackle Will Campbell (66) is examined with an injury in the third quarter of the NFL Week 12 game between the Cincinnati Bengals and the New England Patriots at Paycor Stadium in downtown Cincinnati on Sunday, Nov. 23, 2025. The Bengals fall to 3-8 with a 26-20 loss at home. | Sam Greene/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

"My number one goal was just take a couple of days away and just assess everything with the coaches," Campbell said. "Pinpoint down the things I do really well and then things I need to get better at.

Campbell Fully Back For 2026?

"Getting back healthy, I did PT (physical therapy) five days a week the entire off season until we got back basically. Just trying to rebuild the strength in my knee to get it back to where it was previously. And I feel like I did a good job with that."

That's both good and bad. Looking at the negative first, yikes. The Patriots were rolling out an injured player for the Super Bowl that eventually needed five-days-a-week physical therapy? That doesn't seem all that smart. Knowing Campbell's competive nature, it makes sense that he wanted to be on the field for the biggest game of his life.

On the flip side, the 22-year-old is willingly getting healthy for this year. He didn't fully commit to say he fesls 100% back -- "Yeah, I feel good," he said.

Caleb Lomu Could Potentially Take His Job

Campbell's health -- and play on the field -- will be a major part of how the Patriots can operate, this year and in the future. If he shines and becomes the franchise left tackle that they drafted him to be last year, then the team won't have to worry about Maye's blindside for quite some time. It would likely force Lomu to play the right side full-time, while also evaporating the idea that Campbell would kick inside to guard.

If he struggles, a lot of questions will be asked about roster building at both tackle and guard -- and how Campbell fits into both of those conversations. For now, the young Patriot is just focused on improving his game in all areas.

"Nobody’s a finished product. It’s not one specific thing that I’m going to nail that. I’ve worked at everything every day," he said. "I’m a long way from where I’m going to be in the future. It’s not like I’m great at everything and here’s one little thing. I’m building everything, every day. And trying to make everything as a whole better."

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