Bill Belichick on Peppers

[JDSal45]

Here is Bill Belichick talking about Julius Peppers before the Pats played them in 2005:

Q: They didn’t seem to move Peppers around much.

BB: I don’t think they need to move him. He causes plenty of problems where he is. He’s a hard guy to deal with. He’s hard to run at. He’s hard to throw at. That’s where most of the right-handed quarterbacks have to throw, into that left side. He’s a factor there one way or the other. Because the offense usually extends a little bit to try to take care of him, they like to bring to the linebackers and blitz them up inside, whether it’s [Will] Witherspoon or Morgan or [Brandon] Short, whoever it is. So, as the line widens, to take Peppers and give attention to Peppers, that opens up a lot of the inside pressures for them. So, they do a good job of that. He’s a good player. We talked about last week [Randy] Moss being kind of in a special category offensively for the Raiders. I think you have to put Peppers in that same, whatever category that is, defensively. You have to know where he is every play. If they move him, they move him. If they don’t, sometimes they drop him. Sometimes they stunt him. A lot of times when they move him, they move him after the snap. In other words, the ball is snapped and he’s stunts down inside or he’s on a gain or something like that. It’s not like he doesn’t move off of that spot. But, for the most part, he does align there. At times he reduces down. But for the most part, he is on that tackle.

Q: What about when he was at receiver? Didn’t they throw him a couple of jump balls in the corner of the end zone last year?

BB: Yes. Well, he has played tight end.

Q: What do you do there?

BB: It’s hard. He’s a hard guy to match up against. The guy could probably play… he certainly could play outside linebacker. We know he can play defensive end. I imagine he could probably move inside and play defensive tackle. There's no question he could play tight end. He probably could play offensive tackle. He's 290-something pounds. You're talking about a guy that could probably play six or seven positions on the field. That's pretty unusual.

Q: I was wondering because in that game, that Super Bowl game, there were a number of plays that you guys went right at Peppers, whether it was with Daniel Graham or Richard [Seymour] on the goal line play and took care of him on those particular plays. Since then, how has Julius changed?

BB: Well, I think any player that has had a couple of extra years in the league gets better and I think Peppers is better now than he was then, but he was pretty good then too. He's a guy that we had to account for heavily in that game and did take into consideration in terms of our protections and our calls and even the plays that we ran. I don't think you want to run every single play throwing away from a corner or run away from a certain player on every single play. I think you have to do enough to keep them honest. But, there's no question that Peppers is a guy that you have to game plan for offensively. You have to know where he is. He can ruin the game and we've seen that plenty of times.

Belichick Press Conference

And here are some quotes before the Super Bowl vs. Carolina:

Q: [Julius] Peppers was really hot. Did you look at him that year?

BB: Yeah, but we were picking 32nd that year, so the chances of him being there when we were picking were [small]. And there were a number of players that year—[Ryan] Sims was there that year if I am not mistaken, he came out that year and he went to Kansas City. I think they had somebody else too. Yeah, we saw him. He is a tremendous athlete. He can do pretty much anything you want him to do coming off the edge. He can run fast, jump over guys, but he is a big guy and has a lot of power. He plays the run well. He is strong at the point. He can get up field and beat the guys around the corner. He can come inside and power them. He is a terrific player.

Bill Belichick Press Conf. Transcript - 1/19/2004

J D Sal

 

[muslimman]

We talked about last week [Randy] Moss being kind of in a special category offensively for the Raiders. I think you have to put Peppers in that same, whatever category that is, defensively.

So BB places Moss and Peppers in the same freakishly good category. We already went out and got Moss... see where Im going with this?

I think the chances of Peppers coming here is increasing the more time passes.

 

[BradyFixesEverything]

Here is Bill Belichick talking about Julius Peppers before the Pats played them in 2005:


Belichick Press Conference

And here are some quotes before the Super Bowl vs. Carolina:


Bill Belichick Press Conf. Transcript - 1/19/2004

J D Sal

Well, since you took most of my post from the "BB interest in Peppers a ruse?" thread, I might as well put the other interesting quotes he had on him:

9/15/2005
Q: How has Julius Peppers improved in since you last played him in the Super Bowl?
BB: Well, we played him last year in the preseason. So, we got a good look at him down there too. He played a lot in that game. I think he is essentially the same player, but he is more experienced, he reads some plays quicker, reacts quicker, and uses his hands. He used them well, but he's even improved on that. He's a hard guy to fool and even if you do get him out of position a little bit, he's such a great athlete, he has a lot of speed and power that he can recover very quickly. Again, it's different, but similar to coaching a player like Lawrence Taylor who, in all honesty, was out of position quite a bit, but he was such an exceptional athlete and was so fast and explosive, even though he was out of position, he could recover and still get back in on the play, which most players really can't do, or they can't do it as well as he could. Peppers is a little bit in that category. He makes a lot of plays and then there's times when he is a little bit out of position, but he recovers very quickly.

Q: How does he influence what an offense does?
BB: Well, I think you have to account for him every play. You have to know where he is. He can ruin the game. Just like he did with the Giants. He ruined [Eli] Manning for about a month, too. He went in there, they had him double teamed, he blew past the tackle, strip sacked the ball and messed up Manning's elbow, scooped it up and ran in for a 60-yard touchdown. It doesn't get any worse than that. But, that is the kind of play he can make. And he was supposed to be doubled on the play, too. He's an impact player. You have to know where he is. You have to defend him. He beat us inside on a rush down there in the preseason game last year, I don't know, for about a 15, 17-yard sack, whatever it was. We don't have any quarterbacks that can run away from him. I can tell you that. If he's after us, he's going to get us. He's a lot faster than we are.

So yeah, not only does he compare him to Randy Moss, but he makes comparisons to Lawrence Taylor as well. Even though Belichick pimps every team in his pressers, he doesn't go all out like he did on Peppers with everybody. Nice quotes pre-superbowl though, JDSal45.

 

[nashvillepatsfan]

OK, so BB likes him, but once again how can we afford him?

 

[patsox23]

By restructuring existing deals. Teams find a way, this one ertainly will. I don't think it'll be that tough to do.

 

[okterrific]

Another interesting anecdote I was reminded of yesterday:

A couple years ago, I think it was on Felger's show, he played audio of Belichick mic'ed up at the Pro Bowl (the one he coached). It was at one of the practices, and Belichick was talking to Brad Seely. Belichick said something about punting or whatever, and Seely goes "I'm hoping we're not punting."

Belichick responded, in all seriousness, "Well we're gonna have (Matt) Light blockin' Peppers, so."

Pretty funny.

 

[tanked_as_usual]

OK, so BB likes him, but once again how can we afford him?

everything the pats have in terms of commitment is relatively short term........sure there are guys that need to be brought back after this season, but there is plenty of money available.......

as for this year, they can create some space with an extension to seymour

fact is, the future salary cap situation is a very sound on for this team....

but.........something tells me this is all smoke although it is not beyond the realm of possibility for the pats to pull this off as well as trading the 23,47,58 for the 3 if aaron curry is there

 

[MoLewisrocks]

By restructuring existing deals. Teams find a way, this one ertainly will. I don't think it'll be that tough to do.

Under an expiring CBA, you'd be surprised... They'd need to free up quite a bit too since constructing new deals under an expiring CBA is equally dicey and you can no longer avail yourself of that minimal first year cap hit.

Someone whould start a thread here on Belichick comments on every other elite player in the NFL... Why we haven't pryed Ed Reed out of Baltimore yet is beyond me...

 

[Synovia]

So BB places Moss and Peppers in the same freakishly good category. We already went out and got Moss... see where Im going with this?

Moss was essentially free. Peppers isn't.


That makes a big difference.

 

[N.Eman]

When peppers signs the Franchise tag tender, then we'll see if he gets traded or not. But we do have the picks to offer carolina for him if this goes down. So my guess is it'll be way after the Owner's meeting when this goes down. Possibly on draft day. Im putting my hope on that. If it doesnt happen, well at least we got the jets fans forum freaking out!!

 

[RoughingthePasser]

YouTube - Julius Peppers Training

Love this one!

YouTube - The Best Of Julius Peppers 2008 Season

 

[nashvillepatsfan]

everything the pats have in terms of commitment is relatively short term........sure there are guys that need to be brought back after this season, but there is plenty of money available.......

as for this year, they can create some space with an extension to seymour

Plenty of money?

Seymour extended? Not at a price we'll be able to afford.

OK, sure, they could extend a couple guys, maybe even cut a couple, but we're talking about alot of money to sign peppers. We don't have much left in the cookie jar as it is, and we still have alot of picks in the draft. Spare me the, "BB will trade some picks for next year", and "next year will be uncapped" crap. It's all speculation. Anything could happen. Just keep in mind, that if next year is capped (which i believe it will be) , we will NOT be in as good a cap shape as you think. We have alot of people we need to resign, including a certain QB who is due a raise.

 

[Wotan_the_Wanderer]

His pay grade is a legit concern, but I'm not sure why so many insist on perpetuating a false myth that Peppers is a bad fit at OLB because he can't set the edge or because he can't cover despite Belichick's comments. I'd take the guy in a heartbeat and am holding out hope the Pats brass will figure something out and trade for the guy.

Some more fuel to the fire:

By Nolan Nawrocki, Associate editor
Feb. 22, 2002

Julius Peppers seeks challenges, and he didn’t feel very challenged during offseason summer conditioning workouts while leading the pack of lineman running wind sprints. So Peppers took it upon himself to run with the wide receivers and defensive backs, where he would be held accountable for running eight 300-yard sprints in 55 seconds with 30 seconds rest between each sprint. Peppers didn’t miss a time, completing the workout regimen of skill-position players at 6-6, 290 pounds.

After team workouts ended, Peppers was not content. He wanted more and would challenge defensive backs to footraces.

North Carolina strength coach Jeff Connors said Peppers even won some races.

What impressed Connors was Pepper’s commitment to the offseason program. After redshirting as a freshman, Peppers started all 11 games at defensive end his first season at North Carolina and then walked on to the Tar Heels’ top-ranked basketball program two days after the football season ended. Because of his involvement with the basketball program, where Peppers became a key component in Carolina’s improbable run to the Final Four, he missed offseason conditioning and spring football practice during his first two years at Carolina.

[snip]

North Carolina defensive coordinator Jon Tenuta says Peppers’ natural ability was evident in his interception against FSU. Peppers was responsible for the hook zone in 3-coverage. He lined up against a four wide-receiver set, dropped to his zone in the middle and saw a crossing pattern coming his way. He stepped in front of the crossing receiver, made a leaping catch and started for the endzone. Peppers, who rushed for 3,501 yards and 46 touchdowns as a tailback in high school and also competed four years in the triple jump and relays, tried to hurdle a Florida State tackler and nearly did before getting tripped short of the endzone.

2002 draft: An early look - North Carolina DE Julius Peppers

 

[BlitzFritz]

Nice post. What i take away from this is that BB views Peppers in almost a Lawrence Taylor category. (drool) He might be worth BIG money to Bill then. He might be the real deal, game changer, the next LT.

Lets also realize that the Pats look like they are going to be willing to spend some serious $$ next year in an uncapped scenario. And why not? They can compete with the other big market teams.

So structuring a deal for Peppers that works this year and gets us all to next year might be possible, if he is willing to play for $8-10M per year in a 4-5 year deal.

Just guessing, and hoping!!

-- FRITZ

 

[Kontradiction]

Good post but the death null, unfortunately, came when Schefter said he was 99% sure Peppers was not coming here. That guy probably has never even so much as carried a jock strap in his life, but I fully trust his knowledge on personnel moves.