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FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick usually says kind things about his players in the media during the offseason, but there was one player in particular he gave effusive praise to on Tuesday.
Ahead of the Patriots' second mandatory minicamp practice, Belichick was asked if he's seen any “particular growth” from safety Jabrill Peppers ahead of his second season with the team. The head coach didn't hold back on his thoughts on Peppers.
“Yeah. Oh my God, yeah,” Belichick replied. “He’s a much different player now than he was last year at this time or even in training camp. A full year after the injury, a lot of confidence in the communication, the system, his assignments. He’s playing fast, aggressive, helping out his teammates.
“Last year he was trying to learn things, now he's helping out his teammates, anticipating, making calls or adjustments that maybe help him or possibly help his teammate be in a better position to defend a certain play or type of play. Yeah, he's been great. He’s way ahead of where he was last year.”
Belichick says that S Jabrill Peppers is “way ahead” compared to where he was last year. He’s been in the safety mix a lot on the starting unit in practice following Devin McCourty’s retirement.#Patriots #ForeverNE
— Conor Roche (@ConorRoche27) June 13, 2023
As Belichick mentioned, Peppers has certainly been involved and active in the five practices that have been made available to the media this offseason. He's often worked on the starting unit, not only playing his typical strong safety but also playing free safety at points too following the retirement of Devin McCourty.
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Peppers, who has been known for his versatility going back to his college days with Michigan, preached how important that aspect has been to his game and the rest of the Patriots' defense.
“I think that’s just a credit to everyone’s versatility,” Peppers said Tuesday on playing multiple spots on defense. “We all play in a deep part of the field. We can cover man-to-man, whether it’s a tight end, running back, or if we’ve got to replace a blitzer from the corners. Everyone is real comfortable in the box and knowing how to read the triangle, you know, things like that.”
Peppers, 27, originally joined the Patriots during the 2022 offseason on a one-year deal, signing with the team less than six months after he tore his ACL while playing with the New York Giants. While the 2017 first-round pick played in every game last season, he also played the fewest amount of defensive snaps (percentage-wise) in his career, playing only 35 percent of the team's defensive snaps. But Peppers still provided some solid production, recording 60 combined tackles.
That helped Peppers earn a two-year contract from the Patriots this offseason. After getting off on the right step in 2022, Peppers is hoping for an even better 2023 as he's further removed from his torn ACL.
“Man, it just feels good to be healthy,” Peppers said. “You wake up, no pain in the morning, you can get out of bed, do your thing. I feel fast again, but I’m still a long ways away. They say it’s a two-, three-year injury before you’re fully, fully healed.”
Peppers is just as excited about the Patriots' defense as he is about being healthy, too. So far, the Patriots' defense has stood out during the offseason practices, recording a pair of interceptions against Mac Jones on Tuesday.
“We’re really excited,” Peppers said of the unit. “Nothing that we did last year matters, but, you know, we know the type of defense we can be if we execute. We know where we fell short of last year, the mistakes that we made that might’ve cost us.
“But we’re all a year older, a lot of guys got good play-time experiences, and we’re just trying to build on that, man.”
