Patriots rookie Will Campbell reveals his surprising first impression about New England

Will Campbell faces major expectations from the New England Patriots in his rookie season. And as he concludes his first camp as a pro, he has an amusingly surprising first impression about his new environment.

Addressing the media on Friday during rookie minicamp, he said:

“I was surprised there’s trees. I had never been anywhere up here before, so I always thought this was a little bit closer to Boston and there was a bunch of big city buildings and stuff like that. When I got out here and they picked me up from the airport, I was like, ‘Dang, there’s a lot of trees out here.’ I wasn’t expecting that.”

Back to the topic of what he learned during camp, he said:

“I’m just trying to limit my mistakes, learn as much as I can from the coaches... I’m just in here every day trying to learn as much as I can. I’m just trying to tighten the screws down on everything that they tell me and just be the best version of myself I can be to help the team in any way.”

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Patriots legends Rob Gronkowski, Julian Edelman praise new franchise left tackle Will Campbell

Meanwhile, Patriots legends Rob Gronkowski and Julian Edelman like Will Campbell's chances of becoming a franchise cornerstone. During a recent episode of the Dudes on Dudes podcast, the former tight end recalled an instance of head coach Mike Vrabel and de facto general manager Eliot Wolf visiting him during practice for a game in the previous college season:

“I heard he punched [Vrabel] like an offensive lineman—and Vrabel went flying backwards. I really think that’s what made Vrabel fall in love with this guy.”

Meanwhile, the former wide receiver made comparisons to a couple of former teammates in Matt Light and Logan Mankins:

“They all say, this kid’s a [expletive] killer. … Everyone talks about the short arms — after I saw his interview [where he] said he would [expletive] die for Drake Maye? ...[Expletive] stud. I’m super excited about that pick.”

Besides Campbell, the Patriots drafted a potential new starting center in Jared Wilson in the third round. They also added a potential kicker and long snapper of the future in Andres Borregales and Julian Ashby in Day 3.