It was an up-and-down NFL debut for New England Patriots fourth-overall pick Will Campbell in what would eventually turn into a 20-13 season opener loss vs. the Las Vegas Raiders.
Despite starting off the motions of the first half in this one relatively well, rolling into the break leading 10-7, it would soon be a performance that unraveled into a turbulent one for Campbell.
During the second half, Campbell would not only be called for two major false start penalties but also allowed two sacks by his defender, one of which came during a turning point of the game in the fourth quarter, where Drake Maye would end up strip-sacked for a loss of eight yards.
After the game, though, Campbell would take sole responsibility for those lapses in the trenches, notably on that second sack from Malcolm Koonce that led to a gut punch for this offense.
“I’ve just gotta block him. It’s nobody else other than me,” Campbell said following the loss, via MassLive’s Chris Mason. “I’ve gotta get better. We’ll watch the tape, learn from it, and fix it.”
Campbell also took note of the penalty issues he faced, having one critical false start with less than five minutes on the game clock that took the Patriots from 4th-and-5 to 4th-and-10, a killer towards any momentum New England had to muster a comeback.
“I’ve just gotta be better,” Campbell said. “I can’t jump. I’ve gotta key into the snap count. I take full responsibility. I’ve gotta fix it.”
Campbell have some considerable credit to the defense for the way they played, but also made sure to note that he and the offense would be grinding in the film room to see how things could improve heading into Week 2, and help out the other end of the field.
“I think you just look over what we could have done better,” Campbell said. “A standpoint from up front, what I could have done better and what we could have done better collectively as an offense — because our defense played their *** off and we’ve just gotta help them out. So that’s what we’re going to do. We’ve gotta get in the film room and just find ways to get better.”
Campbell and the Patriots will have a few days to unpack the events of this one before they hit the road for their upcoming divisional bout vs. the Miami Dolphins for next Sunday, looking to rebound from a 0-1 start to the year.
