Will Campbell's playoff debut wasn't exactly stellar, but the Patriots rookie offensive tackle isn't letting it get him down.
He's happy he and his teammates emerged on the winning end in the Wild Card Round against the Chargers and isn't giving critics a second of his time.
“I don’t give a [expletive] what anyone says, to be honest with you,” Campbell said Wednesday, via Boston.com. “It’s easy to type behind a Twitter account that you know is fake. I hold myself to the highest expectation of anybody. I want to be perfect, and it’s hard for me to get told that it’s going to be hard to be perfect.”
While perfect is an ideal standard to strive toward, it's understandably unrealistic. Campbell, however, wasn't close to perfect against the Chargers on Sunday, struggling to hold his ground against Los Angeles' pass-rushing unit that is headlined by veteran All-Pro Khalil Mack and includes effective quarterback hunters Odafe Oweh and Tuli Tuipulotu.
Campbell struggled against all three (plus defensive tackle Teair Tart), allowing a team-high six pressures that included two sacks on 40 pass blocking snaps, according to Next Gen Stats. Pro Football Focus handed Campbell -- the 32nd-ranked tackle in the NFL in 2025 -- a subpar pass-blocking grade of 60.8 for the game.
Ultimately, while Campbell allowed a sack that resulted in a fumble and a turnover, it didn't matter in the outcome and stands as valuable experience for the fourth-overall pick of the 2025 draft.
“Obviously, I didn’t pitch a shutout,” Campbell said. “I had two or three plays that I wish I could have back. But that’s $300 million in defensive ends and I’ve got a ton of respect for those dudes. It’s going to be like that every week in the playoffs.
“Like Coach [Mike] Vrabel said, you’ve gotta be willing to spill a little blood and violence. You’ve just gotta hope you don’t spill more than they do. That’s the name of the game.”
Vrabel embodied the theme of spilling blood, cutting his lip while celebrating with his players at the end of the 16-3 win over the Chargers. Against the Texans this Sunday in the Divisional Round, Vrabel will have to hope his players minimize their mistakes because Houston's defense presents a much greater challenge.
As Campbell noted, it will be difficult to succeed in the postseason. It will be especially demanding versus a Houston pass-rushing unit that features a pair of monsters in Will Anderson Jr. and Danielle Hunter, a duo that is responsible for a combined 27 sacks in 2025 and added 1.5 sacks to their tally in a 30-6 win over the Steelers on Wild Card Weekend.
“It’s my job. It’s what they pay me to do.” Campbell said of bouncing back against Houston. “I can look at it and be like, ‘Yeah, I wish I had two plays back last week,’ but that’s wasting energy towards this week. Somebody told me that and it’s very true.
“I can’t be worrying about last week, because quite frankly, the second after it happened, it doesn’t mean [expletive] anymore. There’s not anything I can do about it, the people in the stands can do about it, you just have to move on and keep playing. You let can’t one play turn into 10.”
If the Patriots are going to continue their magical run to the AFC Championship Game, they can't let individual mistakes snowball. The last thing they need is to find themselves buried beneath a defensive avalanche.
“It’s what you come to the NFL for,” Campbell said. “It’s what you want -- to be in these types of games. It’s not going to be pretty. It’s not going to be easy, but you’ve got to find a way to scratch and claw to come out with a victory.”