FOXBORO, Mass. — The New England Patriots will be without cornerstone left tackle Will Campbell for at least the next four games.
After Campbell suffered an MCL sprain in his right knee, according to a source close to the player, the Patriots will place Campbell on injured reserve, coach Mike Vrabel said Wednesday. The earliest Campbell will be eligible to return is the Week 18 regular-season finale against the Miami Dolphins.
Depending on how the season wraps up, it could present an interesting dilemma for the Patriots, who might enter Week 18 with a win-and-get-the-bye situation. At that point, would they play Campbell to increase their odds of earning the AFC’s No. 1 seed or rest him for the postseason?
For now, the Patriots are preparing for four games without the No. 4 pick in April’s draft.
The plan, according to Vrabel, is to use veteran Vederian Lowe at left tackle. He started 13 games for the Patriots last season and was often shaky, but that was on an already-bad O-line that was part of an offensive scheme filled with problems. Now the Pats will see if they can get improved play from Lowe.
What makes that challenge tougher is that they’ll also be without rookie left guard Jared Wilson for at least one game due to an ankle injury, Vrabel said. Ben Brown will likely take that position. There’s hope that Wilson won’t miss as much time as Campbell. Both suffered their injuries in Sunday’s win over the Cincinnati Bengals.
Still, a revamped left side of the offensive line could be trouble for the Patriots this week as they prepare for “Monday Night Football” against a New York Giants team that’s strong on its defensive line.
“I think 57 of their 66 quarterback hits come from those guys up front,” Vrabel said. “Those guys are certainly impactful players that have to be accounted for every play. And they rotate them through there quite a bit, so there’s a lot of juice there and a lot of disruption.”
With Campbell landing on injured reserve, the Patriots will sign cornerback Miles Battle off their practice squad, one day after cornerback Alex Austin went on IR.
Campbell’s rookie season has been great. He provided the stability and improved play at left tackle that the Patriots so badly needed, protecting Drake Maye’s blind side, and was a big reason for the offense’s overall improvement.
Campbell has avoided serious injury throughout his football career, so this will be a new challenge as he rehabs the knee and tries to return in time for the playoffs. How will the Patriots help him in that process?
“Just keep him engaged,” Vrabel said. “(Make sure) he comes into the meetings and stays engaged and works hard to get back and recover quickly. That’s all it can be. If you want to have a good, long NFL career, you’re going to have to battle through some of these things, and these things are going to come up. I would say that he’s already working extremely hard to get back and being engaged in the meetings. That’s what it’ll be for four weeks.”