How Jabrill Peppers Earned Emphatic Praise From Bill Belichick

FOXBORO, Mass. — To say Bill Belichick is pleased with Jabrill Peppers’ progress would be a significant understatement.

The Patriots head coach lit up Tuesday when asked whether he’s seen growth from the veteran safety as he enters his second season in New England.

“Oh my God, yeah,” Belichick said before the Patriots’ second minicamp practice. “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.”

Peppers was a useful player for the Patriots last season, playing 399 snaps as the team’s fourth safety and an additional 269 snaps on special teams. His greatest attributes were his versatility — he can play box safety, free safety and linebacker — and his bone-crushing physicality. The latter prompted Matthew Slater to compare him to “the Incredible Hulk.”

It’s fair to expect Peppers to take on a more prominent role in Year 2, and not just because New England no longer employs retired safety Devin McCourty.

“Last year, he was trying to learn things,” Belichick said. “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.”

“He’s way ahead of where he was last year.”

Bill Belichick on Jabrill Peppers

Asked about his own improvement, Peppers immediately pointed to his health. His final season with the New York Giants ended with a torn ACL in October 2021. Now more than 1 1/2 years removed from that injury, the 27-year-old feels more like himself.

“Man, it just feels good to be healthy,” said Peppers, who was drafted 25th overall by the Cleveland Browns in 2017. ‘To wake up, no pain in the morning, you can get out of bed and do your thing. I feel explosive again. I feel fast again. But I’m still a long ways away. They say it’s a two-to-three-year injury before you’re fully, fully healed. But right now, I feel pretty good. … And my second year in the system, I’m just more comfortable.”

Peppers is part of a deep and talented Patriots secondary that’s stocked with multipositional defensive backs, from safety/linebacker hybrids like himself, Kyle Dugger, Adrian Phillips and Marte Mapu to players like Jalen Mills, Jonathan Jones, Marcus Jones and Myles Bryant, who can play both cornerback and safety.

With so many versatile athletes on the back end, Peppers believes the Patriots’ defense could even improve following McCourty’s retirement, as opposing offenses will have a hard time deciphering which players are playing which positions in a given coverage.

“You kind of knew where Devin was going to be most of the time,” Peppers explained. “Yeah, he inserted, he rotated down, but for the most part, you knew 80-90% of the time he was going to be in the post. Now, you don’t know where anybody’s going to be.”

Peppers said he’s “really excited” about the Patriots’ defense this season. Belichick clearly feels the same way about Peppers.

“He’s been great,” the coach said. “He’s way ahead of where he was last year.”