What Mike Vrabel said about Will Campbell's battle with Myles Garrett in Week 8
New England Patriots rookie left tackle Will Campbell had the toughest test of his young NFL career on Sunday, as he tried to keep All-Pro pass rusher Myles Garrett away from Drake Maye. Like just about every other left tackle in the league going against Garrett, it didn't go particularly well at times for Campbell.
Garrett was able to get to Maye five times on Sunday to set a new single-game record for Cleveland, though it didn't matter much in the end as the Patriots walked off the field with a 32-13 victory. And not all of those sacks were on Campbell, as Garrett also schooled rookie left guard Jared Wilson, veteran right tackle Morgan Moses, and tight end Hunter Henry -- who tried to help Campbell by chipping Garrett at the line a few times -- on his way to Maye.
Campbell did allow a pair of sacks on the day, which snapped his four-game streak of allowing no sacks or quarterback hits. Garrett beat him early in the first quarter on New England's first drive of the game, when the All-Pro bounced off a Henry chip and went outside to beat Campbell and get to Maye on a third-and-goal play. The Patriots ended up settling for a field goal on their opening possession.
A similar scene played out late in the second quarter when a Henry chip did nothing to slow down Garrett, who beat Campbell on the outside again and was able to force a fumble on Maye. Wilson recovered the loose ball though, and the Patriots added another field goal to take a 9-7 lead into halftime.
After he was sacked four times in the first half, Maye only hit the turf twice in the second half as the Patriots opened up the game. While it's never good to watch your quarterback get sacked six times, the Patriots did pretty well at limiting the damage and havoc caused by Garrett.
"He's a really good player," Campbell said of Garrett after the win. "He beat me a few times and that is just part of the game. He gets paid a lot of money, and he got me a couple times. I just had to keep coming back and keep fighting, which is why we got the win."
Maye was still able to throw for 282 yards and three touchdowns (all in the third quarter) and New England also rushed for 177 yards against the NFL's top run defense. Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel was asked about the job Campbell did on Garrett during his Monday press conference in Foxboro, and seemed pleased with the rookie's effort.
"I think that it's always a challenge when you play Myles Garrett," Vrabel said Monday. "It's hard to recreate that speed and that type of -- what are we going to do on the show team? Who do we have? If we did, they wouldn't be on the show team.
"There were some good plays, good blocks, patience, closing the space, and he did a good job in the run game," added Vrabel. "Then some plays that we would like to have back. I think that's what happens."
Vrabel did say the Patriots need to do a better job "closing the runway" when they try to chip oncoming pass rushers.
"Probably we just need to close the space a little bit," said Vrabel. "Close the space and know that everyone else is on their own. We have to commit two players to Myles, as opposed to hanging in there a little bit. I think we'll all learn from that and be able to improve and understand he sees those all the time. He knows when he's coming off that chip, we have to close the distance and know that he's ready to make a move or another couple moves."
The Patriots won't be seeing Garrett again this season, but Vrabel believes the experience Campbell and the rest of the line gained Sunday will be valuable as they continue on with the season.
It's been a pretty solid season overall for Campbell, as the No. 4 pick in last year's draft has allowed just five sacks in his first eight games in the NFL. He also earned some high praise from Garrett following Sunday's win.
Myles Garrett on facing Drake Maye, Will Campbell
Garrett was not too happy at the end of the game Sunday, as he was spotted slamming his helmet down on the Browns sideline. He wasn't too pleased after the loss either, but Garrett took time to heap some praise on Campbell after battling with him for much of the day.
"I mean, he's strong. You want to set the tempo and the pace of the game with power," Garrett said of the rookie. "He was able to be pretty firm in his stance and keep me from knocking him back. Just trying to hit him with different looks, trying to keep him off guard."
Garrett also gave credit to Maye, who has taken the NFL by storm and is playing at an MVP level for New England for the last several weeks.
"I think he is a great human being. I think he is good quarterback who is soon to be a great quarterback," Garrett said of Maye. "I like how he's grown. It's nice to be a part of his journey. Hate to be on this end of it, but it's nice to see how he's leading his team. He's helped them rebuild into what they are now. So, in a way, I'm proud of him and I'm happy to see his success."