“I needed this one. I thank each and every man, coach in here.”
Throughout his three seasons in Foxborough, veteran safety Jabrill Peppers made his presence felt on the gridiron by way of some thunderous hits, momentum-shifting plays, and deluge of trash talking.
A similar sight played out on the field at Gillette on Sunday, with a fired-up Peppers taking in the crowd after doling out some punishment and snatching another turnover for his team in Foxborough.
Of course, plenty has changed for Peppers over the last few months. The locale of Sunday’s matchup was all too familiar for the 29-year-old safety, but the same can’t be said about the black-and-gold gear he donned.
A surprising cut by the Patriots just ahead of regular-season action, Peppers went from a key cog in New England’s secondary to a supposed expendable piece in Mike Vrabel and Terrell Williams’ defense.
But on Sunday, Peppers showed that he still has something left in the tank — twisting the knife against a Patriots team who has missed some of his booming hits amid an up-and-down start to the year.
Peppers delivered in his first game against the Patriots since his release — both forcing and recovering a fumble while also posting six tackles in Pittsburgh’s 21-14 win over New England.
Given the whirlwind that Peppers has found himself in over the last few weeks, he relished Sunday’s results against his former team.
“I needed this one. I thank each and every man, coach in here,” Peppers said postgame. “We had a great week of work, great prep. It feels good right now, I’m not going to lie.”
Peppers made his mark in the third quarter amid a catastrophic stretch of ball security for the Patriots.
After Drake Maye and Rhamondre Stevenson each committed turnovers on back-to-back drives — both of which were relinquished within Pittsburgh’s two-yard line — Mike Vrabel opted to play it safe by putting the ball in Antonio Gibson’s hands on New England’s next possession.
It didn’t reverse New England’s fortunes.
As Gibson tried to ferry the ball through a sea of players at the line of scrimmage, Peppers — after shedding a block from Mack Hollins — met Gibson in the hole and knocked the ball loose off of a bone-crunching hit.
After the football hit the turf, Peppers scrambled to the loose pigskin to snuff out yet another drive for New England.
Aaron Rodgers — who didn’t hide his enjoyment earlier this month after delivering a loss to his former team in the Jets — said that matching up against an old team can provide a much-needed lift, regardless of whether said exit was acrimonious or amicable.
“I think as former players, when you’re playing former teams, that’s what you want. You want to make a big play and make them think about what they lost,” Rodgers said postgame. “So, there’s always that every single week, there’s a guy that’s facing his former team, probably, and you’d like to get him the ball or like to have him make some plays. But he was definitely happy in the locker room.”
Given New England’s struggles this season with tackling, the decision to cut loose an established veteran in Peppers still stands as a head-scratcher — one further validated by his performance on Sunday.
Despite his surprising exit from New England, Peppers told Zack Cox of the Boston Herald that he holds no ill will toward his former team.
“Yeah, I was (surprised),” Peppers told Cox. “I’m not going to get into any of the specifics. I don’t want it to be a distraction or turn into a media thing. I was definitely surprised, but it’s the nature of this business. Sometimes you’re not good enough. But I definitely wanted [the] opportunity to show them that I can still play in this league at a high level, so I think I did a pretty good job of that today.”
Peppers added that he’s excited to start a new chapter in Pittsburgh, but remains appreciative of his time in Foxborough and the relationships he’s built during that three-year run.
“I’ve got a lot of love and respect for those guys, man,” Peppers told Cox of the Patriots. “You can’t mix feelings with business. It is what it is. I know they’ve got a lot of tough decisions to make when it comes to the roster.
“They’ve got a lot of great young players over there, got a lot of guys who can really impact the game. I grinded with those guys. I love them, and I miss them, but I love my new home now, too.”