Marcus Bryant, Not Caleb Lomu, Steps In at Left Tackle as Will Campbell Sits Out Patriots Practice
The New England Patriots got a look at life without Will Campbell on Thursday, and the answer wasn’t the man they drafted to eventually replace him.
Campbell, New England’s starting left tackle, did not take part in team drills during the Patriots’ 11th training camp practice, working through conditioning on a side field while wearing a brace on his left arm, according to 98.5 The Sports Hub. In his place at left tackle with the starters: second-year tackle Marcus Bryant, not first-round rookie Caleb Lomu.
Patriots beat writer Chad Graff flagged the move on X. “Without Will Campbell on the field today, it was Marcus Bryant — not Caleb Lomu — who got the reps at left tackle with the Patriots’ starters,” Graff wrote —
Without Will Campbell on the field today, it was Marcus Bryant — not Caleb Lomu — who got the reps at left tackle with the Patriots' starters.
— Chad Graff (@ChadGraff) August 6, 2026
It’s a small camp moment that says something real about New England’s plan behind Campbell. The Patriots spent a first-round pick on Lomu out of Utah this spring, banking on him as the long-term answer if Campbell ever needed a breather or the position ever needed a succession plan. Instead, when the moment actually arrived, coach Mike Vrabel turned to a player nobody drafted to start: Bryant, a seventh-round pick in 2025 who didn’t start a game as a rookie.
The reasoning isn’t complicated. Lomu played left tackle at Utah, but the Patriots have had him working almost exclusively at right tackle behind Morgan Moses this summer, according to ESPN. Pulling him over to left tackle with the No. 1 offense on short notice, even for a practice, would have meant throwing a rookie into a new assignment he hasn’t been repping. Bryant, by contrast, has been working left tackle reps all camp as Campbell’s primary backup.
Multiple outlets on the ground in Foxborough confirmed the same pecking order Thursday. Pats Pulpit called it out directly, noting that Bryant stayed at left tackle throughout the practice while Lomu only saw left tackle snaps with the third string, behind sixth-round rookie Dametrious Crownover. NBC Sports Boston reported it the same way: Bryant with the ones, Lomu still working as the backup right tackle.
Thursday was also the hottest and most physical day of camp so far. It was the Patriots’ first practice back in full pads after a walkthrough, played out in humidity and temperatures in the 90s on the fields behind Gillette Stadium, and closed to fans for the first time this summer. Vrabel ended the session abruptly after the defense picked off quarterbacks Drake Maye and Tommy DeVito on three straight plays.
Bryant sounded like a player who understood the moment. “Just being able to step up and compete, and being able to step in for my brother means a lot,” he said, according to Athlon Sports.
Why the Patriots’ Offensive Line Depth Matters Right Now
None of this is a crisis. It’s a camp personnel decision, and Campbell’s arm brace has not been officially tied to a specific injury or ruled out any time beyond Thursday. But it lands at a notable moment for a Patriots offensive line that quietly became one of the better units in football last season.
Pro Football Focus ranked New England’s line 11th in the NFL last season, with the sixth-best pass-blocking efficiency in the league — a sharp turnaround for a group that had been a weak point for years. Campbell, playing left tackle as a rookie, was part of that improvement alongside veterans Morgan Moses and Garrett Bradbury, even after a rough Super Bowl LX outing that drew criticism.
| Category | 2025 Patriots O-Line Rank |
|---|---|
| Overall PFF O-Line Grade | 11th in NFL |
| Pass-Blocking Efficiency | 6th in NFL |
| Starting LT (Rookie Year) | Will Campbell (13 starts) |
That’s the baseline New England is protecting. Quarterback Drake Maye is entering a season with real expectations after the Patriots’ 2025 playoff run, and how the tackle depth chart sorts out behind Campbell will matter if he ever misses real time, whether from a minor camp bump or something more serious later in the year.
For now, this is a snapshot from a single hot practice in August, not a benching or a long-term change. The Patriots have five more padded practices left this week and joint sessions with the Colts and Eagles still to come before final roster decisions get made. How Vrabel deploys Bryant, Lomu, and Campbell over the next few weeks will say a lot more than one Thursday in Foxborough.
