Jabrill Peppers Apologizes For Hot-Mic Video, Criticizes NFL For Sharing

FOXBORO, Mass. — Patriots safety Jabrill Peppers issued a long and passionate apology Friday for his hot-mic comments that went viral this week.

Peppers told Giants running back Saquon Barkley, “You lucky we ass,” after New York beat New England 10-7 last Sunday at MetLife Stadium. Barkley was mic’d up at the time, and NFL Films included Peppers’ remark in its highlight package from the game.

Standing at his stall in the Patriots’ locker room five days later, the veteran safety apologized to his teammates and coaches for creating a distraction amid an already difficult season for the organization.

Peppers, a former Giant, also stood by his comments, accurately noting that the Patriots, at 2-9, have been one of the NFL’s worst teams. He said his words weren’t intended to criticize any particular players, however, and took issue with the league’s decision to share the video.

Here’s a full transcript of Peppers’ statement, which lasted more than three minutes:

“First of all, I just want to apologize to my teammates and the coaches for even having to answer questions about that. We’ve got more important things to worry about than me being caught on a hot mic. But at the end of the day, we’re 2-9 and we’ve got a top-five pick in the draft that didn’t come via trade. We all the standard. We know what it’s supposed to look like, and it’s not that right now.

“It’s not no shot at anybody in the locker room. I said ‘we.’ We own that. I own that. We’ve got good players, great players in the locker room, but every team has great players. There’s great parity across the league, and if those great or good players aren’t executing, that team isn’t a good team. But that doesn’t speak to the character of men we’ve got in this locker room. We all come to work willing and ready to do whatever we can to help this team win.

“The ball just hasn’t been rolling in our favor, and that’s on no one but us. The coaches do a hell of a job week in and week out with the game plan, putting us in the right position to make plays, and when the opportunity comes, we just don’t do that at a consistent enough level in all phases of the game.

“We’ve got one of the best coaches to ever coach (Bill Belichick), and he comes in week after week telling us what we have to do to win this game, who we have to stop, how we have to go about business. And time and time again, week after week, it comes up in the game exactly how he said it, and we don’t capitalize on our opportunities.

“So it’s frustrating, just like it’s frustrating for all the guys. I’m a professional, so things like that should never happen. No need to blame anybody but myself. It’s my seventh year in the league, I’m 28 years old and I know better. That was a little frustration. I know I’m smiling, but I was very, very angry. That’s one that I wanted. But at the end of the day, we’re not doing enough to get it done right now, and we all know that.

“But we’ve got six more opportunities to go out there and try to build momentum going into next year, and who knows? AFC is wide open right now. We take care of business how we’re supposed to take care of business, who knows? But that only starts week in and week out, and that starts with the Chargers this Sunday.

“So I just want to apologize again, man, because I don’t ever want to be a distraction. We’ve got enough things to worry about around here. I try to be a guy to go out there and lead by example, play hard down in, down out. But we all own that, and I want to be a part of the solution. So, it is what it is.

“But the guys in here, they know me. They know I speak my mind. They know I’m honest. I just got caught on a hot mic, man, that’s all that was. I didn’t even give Saquon a chance to tell me. But I don’t think it was right that they put that out, because a lot of things are said on that football field. I know there’s multiple people mic’d up game in and game out that they don’t put out.

“So I was kind of taken aback by that, but at the end of the day, I own that on everything I say, and I’m not running from it. This Sunday, we’ve got a chance to go out there, build momentum and get this bad taste out of our mouths, and that’s what we’re going to do.”

The Patriots will host the 4-7 Los Angeles Chargers this Sunday at Gillette Stadium.