Safety Jabrill Peppers said that everything feels familiar since he joined the New England Patriots in free agency earlier this offseason.
With the team just getting the offseason program underway, Peppers hasn’t practiced with the team. But he has been in the facility and is taking on New England’s infamously large playbook. Some newcomers need time to assimilate, but Peppers said he’s not experiencing “culture shock.”
He does, however, seem to admire his new coach. Peppers said “playing for Bill (Belichick)” was the biggest reason the safety joined New England.
“His understanding of the game, what he’s done for the game, the moment I had an opportunity to come learn from him I definitely wanted to jump at it,” Peppers said Tuesday on a videoconference call at Gillette Stadium. “He’s seen a lot of ball. He’s coached in a lot of eras. So I’m just more so excited to pick his brain, see things how he sees it, curious to see how he watches film, how breaks down opposing offenses. Just things like that really stuck out to me.”
Judging from his contract — a one-year deal worth up to $1.75 million — Peppers probably didn’t have a robust free-agent market, likely due to his recent ACL tear. He said Tuesday that he hasn’t had any setbacks from the injury in late October. That could put him on track to play for the Patriots when the season opens.
When he’s healthy, he’ll have no shortage of players with which he’ll share snaps. New England boasts a deep safety group that includes Devin McCourty, Adrian Phillips and Kyle Dugger, among others.
“I just want to go into that safety room and be another asset they can move around and disguise looks and different things. It’s great having guys with similar skill sets because you can confuse opposing coaches and quarterbacks,” Peppers said. “I want to add to that, compete with those guys and make it hard on the coaches to put the best guys on the field.”
