The New England Patriots defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers on Thursday night, and safety Jabrill Peppers said the Patriots needed to get the win for embattled head coach Bill Belichick.
“We needed it,” said Peppers, via Mike Reiss of ESPN. “I just feel good that we could get it done for Bill and the rest of the coaches. They work extremely hard trying to put us in the right place to make plays, and we did enough to win tonight.”
Peppers logged three tackles and an interception in the victory and strongly defended Belichick afterward.
“I don’t really like all the flak he’s been getting because it’s on us as players to go out there and execute,” he said. “I personally feel like the gameplan has been phenomenal week in and week out, and we had the opportunities to make the plays and we didn’t make them. But we made enough tonight.”
On the season overall, Peppers has totaled 69 tackles, a sack, a couple of interceptions, a forced fumble, a fumble recovery and seven passes defended.
The 28-year-old is in his second season with New England after initially signing with the club in 2022.
Peppers, who played his collegiate football at the University of Michigan, was originally selected by the Cleveland Browns with the 25th overall pick of the 2017 NFL Draft.
He spent the first two years of his career with the Browns before being traded to the New York Giants in a deal that sent wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. to Cleveland in 2018.
Peppers proceeded to spend his next three seasons with the Giants, with his best campaign coming in 2020 when he racked up 91 tackles, 2.5 sacks, a pick, a forced fumble, a fumble recovery and 11 passes defended.
Meanwhile, Belichick is in his 24th season as head coach of the Pats. Throughout his illustrious tenure with the franchise, he has led the Patriots to six Super Bowl titles and nine Super Bowl appearances.
However, since Tom Brady left via free agency in March 2020, Belichick and New England have fallen on hard times.
The Pats are just 3-10 this season, marking their worst record since 1993. They will take on the Kansas City Chiefs next weekend.
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