The New England Patriots seem to have avoided the worst-case scenario with rookie left tackle Will Campbell’s knee injury, but they still face a stretch of games without the left side of their starting offensive line.
That’s because Campbell and rookie left guard Jared Wilson are likely to miss at least one game — and potentially more.
Campbell’s injury is more meaningful, given his importance to the Patriots. He was the No. 4 pick in April’s NFL Draft and has played admirably while protecting Drake Maye’s blind side. While it doesn’t appear that Campbell’s injury will end his season, the initial belief, according to a source close to Campbell, is that the 21-year-old suffered an MCL sprain and will miss multiple games. News of the sprain was first reported by NFL Network.
It seems likely that New England will place Campbell on injured reserve, which would make him unavailable until Week 18 at the earliest. But with the Patriots battling for the No. 1 seed in the AFC (and thus a first-round bye in the playoffs), there’s a chance they could give Campbell extra time to heal.
“It’s going to be a couple of weeks, and we’ll have to make a decision on the roster,” coach Mike Vrabel said of Campbell’s injury. “But it’s nothing, hopefully, that’s going to put him out the entire season.”
Wilson, a third-round pick, also seems likely to miss at least one game, though he may avoid injured reserve. Wilson suffered a high ankle sprain, according to NFL Network, but there’s hope that Wilson could return earlier than the usual four to six weeks NFL players usually need to recover from that injury.
“Too soon to tell,” Vrabel said of Wilson’s status going forward. “See how the rehab goes and how he responds there.”
The Patriots’ bye week will come at a good time, with the team off in Week 14 after playing the New York Giants on “Monday Night Football” next week. But if a player is placed on injured reserve, he must miss four games, not four weeks.
With Campbell and Wilson likely out, the Patriots will have to move some pieces around on the offensive line after experiencing unusual steadiness there until Sunday. They have started the same front five in 11 of their 12 games this season.
Ben Brown will likely take Wilson’s place at left guard, but the decision on how to replace Campbell is more intriguing. Rather than a traditional swing tackle — an offensive tackle who could step in for either the left or right tackle — the Patriots seem to prefer a backup at each of the tackle spots.
When right tackle Morgan Moses briefly missed time during Sunday’s win over the Bengals, rookie seventh-round pick Marcus Bryant replaced him. But when Campbell left Sunday’s game, Vederian Lowe filled in at left tackle.
“We have a busy training staff this morning,” Vrabel said.
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