Salty Will Campbell is the best Will Campbell
The latest Will Campbell comments suggest that the Patriots left tackle is determined to play better and prove his critics wrong.
You can coach techniques. You can coach your playbook. But you can't coach red-ass.
Will Campbell sounds salty, based on his most recent public comments, and that's the best thing possible for the New England Patriots ahead of their divisional round playoff game against the Houston Texans. Campbell is in a spot that he needs to bounce back from a rough game, and he'll have to do it against the very best edge-rushing duo in the NFL. It's likely he needs to prepare to match up against both first team All-Pro Will Anderson Jr. and second team All-Pro Danielle Hunter. Not to mention steady veteran Derek Barnett and whatever else the Texans' formidable defensive front throws at them.
Campbell isn't necessarily upset about what's been said about him in the wake of the Patriots' wild card win over the Chargers, in which he allowed a sack and four total pressures (via Pro Football Focus). But he may be upset about just continuing to hear about it. He had some refreshingly honest and vulgar comments about his critics.
"I don't give a shit what anyone says, to be honest with you," Campbell said Wednesday (watch below via CLNS Media). "It's easy to type behind a Twitter account that is fake. I hold myself to the highest expectation of anybody. I want to be perfect, and it's hard for me to get told that it's going to be hard to be perfect.
"The Chargers, obviously I didn't pitch a shutout, had two or three plays that I wish I could have back. But, that's $300 million in defensive ends."
It's a good sign for the Patriots that Campbell cares so much about his own performance and playing better. As much as you could wish he simply played better in the first place, the last thing you'd want as the team or a fan is for Campbell to shrug and act like it's no big deal. Wanting to play better is half the battle of actually playing better.
With that in mind, Campbell better hope he plays better against the Texans. It would be a tough look to lay another egg after making such comments during the week. But Campbell could still give up pressure against those guys, and still play better overall, because the Texans are that good. If Campbell delivers a huge bounceback performance, that would make a massive difference for a Pats offense that is facing its toughest test of the season.
