Patriots lose Will Campbell to a knee sprain

Campbell went down in the second quarter, and by Sunday night the word was a sprain, with an MRI to come Monday.

Ian Rapoport

@RapSheet

#Patriots OT Will Campbell, whose day was cut short today with injury, is believed to have suffered a knee sprain, sources say, and he’ll have an MRI tomorrow to confirm. This will likely cause him to miss some time.

It was one ugly stretch inside a blowout. TreVeyon Henderson hurt his ankle on an 11-yard run early in the second quarter, and 2 plays later Campbell was hurt when a player landed on his leg on a Rhamondre Stevenson carry. It's the same knee Campbell tore the MCL in last season, and that's the part that makes Patriots fans nervous. A 2025 first-round pick, he took plenty of heat at left tackle after the Super Bowl LX loss to Seattle, but he'd been better this year. Losing him right as it was coming together stinks.

The snap counts show how much of the game the backups ended up playing. Rookie Caleb Lomu played 49 snaps at left tackle to Campbell's 28, and the offense still ran 75 plays and put up 45 points.

That's the encouraging part. Lomu got 2-plus quarters of real NFL left tackle reps against a live pass rush and the offense didn't stall. Corey Kiner did the same in the backfield, with 6 carries for 52 yards in place of Henderson. Efton Chism III also logged a career-high 57 snaps covering for Mack Hollins. The roster is held together with tape right now. New England has put 19 players on injured reserve this season, already more than the 17 it had all of last year.

Monday morning Rapoport went on GMFB to walk through where the rest of the injury list stands, with a short week coming up.

Ian Rapoport

@RapSheet

From @GMFB: Updates on a few #Patriots injuries, as they have two games in the next 11 days.

Then Mike Vrabel stepped to the podium, and the first question was about Campbell.

So here's what to watch: what the MRI shows, and whether Campbell's absence is short or ends with an injured reserve move. The 3-2 Patriots host the 2-3 Jets on Sunday, and right now Lomu looks like the guy protecting Drake Maye's blind side. At 3-2 with a 45-point performance in their pocket, the Pats can absorb a couple of weeks without Campbell. A repeat of last year's knee problem would hurt a lot more.