#rookie-development

#rookie-development

"Obviously, I didn't pitch a shutout," Campbell said Wednesday. "I had two or three plays that I wish I could have back. But that's $300 million in defensive ends and I've got a ton of respect for those dudes. It's going to be like that every week in the playoffs. "Like Coach [Mike] Vrabel said, you've gotta be willing to spill a little blood and violence. You've just gotta hope you don't spill more than they do. That's the name of the game."

[I learned to use] those reps to get better, not just feeling sorry or using them to get by [and] get through the day, but using them to actually get better,

I think I just learned a lot about my everyday routine. You know, watching the veteran guys we have, the way that they go about their business, and the guys who have stuck around and made such an impact on this game. I think that was the biggest part, to take care of myself on a day-to-day basis with the schedule and the travel.

Nicolas Roy, Bobby McMann, Dakota Joshua, and Nick Robertson all broke out of lengthy goal slumps, helping lead the Leafs to a 7-2 blowout. The effort was there, they executed on grade-A chances, and they chased Penguins starter Arturs Silovs. However, there's still plenty to clean up on the defensive end as the structure in the D-zone continues to be a work in progress, but let's focus on some positives as the convincing victory was one of the Leafs best games of the season.

Drake Powell didn't arrive in Brooklyn with an offensive reputation. At North Carolina last season, the 6-5 wing was known almost exclusively for his defense, a high-motor stopper whose freshman minutes were tied to effort, not scoring. He knocked down the occasional mid-range jumper, hit 38.1% of his 3s on limited attempts, made simple reads and showed plenty of athletic juice as a cutter and transition finisher.

It didn't take long for the rookies to make their mark in Atlanta. On Sunday night in a daunting environment in Minnesota, all four rookies who are either starting or playing significant snaps made a notable impact. Jalon Walker and James Pearce Jr. earned their first sacks. Xavier Watts and Billy Bowman Jr. produced their first interceptions. It was a gratifying night for a front office that has endured its share of misses and losses.

The Patriots' decision to have multiple rookie starters on their offensive line drew mixed reviews at the start of the season, especially when facing a defense as skilled as the Browns on Sunday. It meant a player like Will Campbell would be tested-and tested often -as he lined up against Myles Garrett, and that has been the case for the entirety of the game. As a future Hall of Fame defensive end,

"He has versatility, toughness on both ends of the floor," Brown said. "He can [make plays] for himself and others. Gets us organized. "He had a really good game defensively [Friday] night for the most part, and then during the first stretch, he was really good offensively. In the second half, he wasn't as good. But he's a young guy and he's going to learn and grow from any minutes that he gets."

Coming into the regular season, expectations were high for second-round pick Donovan Ezeiruaku. After the Cowboys traded Micah Parsons away a little over a week before their first game, many believed Ezeiruaku would step into a more significant role in Dallas' defense. The Boston College product totaled 16.5 sacks during his senior year at BC, the most in college football, so the hope was that he could replicate some of that production in a Parsons-less Cowboys defense.

We can only get five right now, we've only been taking five, so that can change each week. And he's working hard, working in practice. We'll evaluate that each week as to what his role would be and how he can help us. But that's kind of where that is.