New England Patriots left tackle Will Campbell has been diagnosed with an MCL sprain in his right knee and is expected to miss some game action, a source told ESPN on Tuesday. The initial belief is that the injury is not as serious as the Grade 3 torn MCL he suffered on the same knee last November, which led the Patriots to place him on injured reserve.
Campbell, the Patriots' first-round pick in 2025, admittedly returned from that injury for the postseason before he was 100% healed and struggled with protecting quarterback Drake Maye. Rookie first-round pick Caleb Lomu stepped in after Campbell was injured when a Las Vegas Raiders defender tackled running back Rhamondre Stevenson into Campbell's leg on a rushing attempt in the second quarter. Lomu, who played left tackle in college at Utah, is a top candidate to start while Campbell recovers.
"I don't think it was too big for him," Vrabel told reporters of Lomu's fill-in performance. "You didn't really notice him a lot, so I think that's probably a good thing."
With the Patriots tapping their offensive tackle depth, they could benefit from having 2025 seventh-round pick Marcus Bryant, who was tracking to be the top swing tackle in the preseason, begin to practice. Bryant had been placed on injured reserve after being rolled up on in a preseason game and was eligible to begin practicing last week. New England has also been hit hard by injuries, losing multiple offensive linemen for the season. Running back Tre Veyon Henderson is also expected to miss multiple weeks with a high ankle sprain. Vrabel said "there's a chance" that receiver A.J. Brown will be activated off injured reserve and can play against the New York Jets on Sunday.
Source: ESPN NFL · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing