'Just be selfish': Tyson Campbell already eyeing bounce-back after disappointing season

It wasn't the year that Tyson Campbell thought he'd have.

After a stellar 2022 campaign, his second season with the Jacksonville Jaguars, the expectations for Campbell entering his third year in the league rose dramatically.

Entering the year as the team's undisputed top corner, Campbell made his presence felt throughout the offseason, into training camp and at the start of the season.

However, due to nagging soft-tissue injuries, Campbell suited up for just 11 games and missed the second half of the team's loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 16.

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Campbell finished the year with 60 total tackles, two for loss, one interception, five pass breakups and a forced fumble. Most of his stats came during the season's first six games, just before his first hamstring ailment. He recorded just one pass breakup in his final five games played.

To put his lost season into perspective, Campbell ranked ninth on Pro Football Focus' cornerbacks grades list in 2022. This year, he's not even on the first page of 50 players, nor the second page.

Campbell is ranked down at No. 124 overall with a defensive grade of 61.5.

It was a difficult season for the young defensive back, on top of the late-season collapse that resulted in the demise of nearly the entire defensive coaching staff.

"It was frustrating. But, it's God's place and I learned a lot from it, mentally grew stronger from it and [I] was able to continue to push through and try to be in a position where I can help my team finish out the season," said Campbell when asked about his injuries this year.

Campbell first appeared on the injury report after the team's Week 6 win over the Indianapolis Colts. Dealing with a hamstring injury, Campbell missed the next two games before returning against the San Francisco 49ers, re-aggravating the injury. He subsequently missed the team's next two contests.

Campbell returned against the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 13 but suffered a quad injury before the game was over, forcing him to miss the next two games of the season.

Ultimately, Campbell never got a solid footing during the year and his play suffered as a result. Injuries like the ones Campbell suffered, are very difficult to come back from.

"Especially for me, kind of really the first time I experienced a soft-tissue [injury] like that. So, I would definitely say that they are tricky. You'll think you're ready to go. You can rehab all you want, but nothing really simulates a live NFL game," Campbell said. "So, you think you're ready to go and your hamstring will tell you it's not ready yet. Those soft-tissue injuries are nothing to play with."

'He works the right way': DeShea Townsend never lost faith in Tyson Campbell

With just a few weeks remaining in the regular season, the Florida Times-Union sat down with former Jaguars defensive passing game coordinator and cornerbacks coach DeShea Townsend to speak about the team's secondary, and specifically rookie defensive back Antonio Johnson.

At the end of the conversation, though, we asked the former NFL star what he thought about one of his star pupils.

Even a week after Campbell was benched in the second half against the Buccaneers, Townsend expressed zero doubts about the third-year DB.

"At the beginning of the year, shoot, Tyson was playing well. Anytime you have an injury, it's a confidence thing. Sometimes it'll make you bounce back and get ready to play," Townsend said.

"Last week [against the Buccaneers] was a good sign of getting him back in the direction of where he needs to be because this is a rep game. No matter how many reps you have [it's necessary] and then, before, when you miss reps, you got to get it back. He works the right way. He's harder on himself than I can ever be and that's the thing that makes you a good player."

Campbell's importance moving forward can't be overstated. An injury-riddled season took away from some of the gains the cornerback made in his second year, but his talent cannot be questioned.

Campbell said that the direction he was given by coaches this offseason was to just be selfish.

"Just be selfish. Everybody try to train as hard as they can and rest their body to be the best they can so they can be the best player they can be and give this team the opportunity to be able to play in late January," he said.

Demetrius Harvey is the Jacksonville Jaguars reporter for the Florida Times-Union. You can follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, at @Demetrius82.

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This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Jaguars CB Tyson Campbell talks frustrating third NFL season