Jabrill Peppers openly called the Patriots an “ass” team — despite being one of their starting safeties.
Though the Patriots are now 2-9 and his assessment might not be that wrong, Peppers retracted the now-viral comments caught on a hot mic in a viral NFL Films video while talking to Giants running back Saquon Barkley.
“You lucky we ass, bro,” exclaimed Peppers, the ex-Giant, to Barkley following the Pats’ 10-7 loss in Week 12 to New York.
Peppers, a starter in the secondary for the last-place Patriots, apologized Friday after the audio went public.
“I just want to apologize to my teammates and coaches for even having to answer questions about that,” Peppers told reporters, according to ESPN. “We have more important things to worry about than me being quoted on a hot mic.
“At the end of the day, we’re 2-9, we have a top-5 pick in the draft that didn’t come via trade and we all know the standard. We all know what it’s supposed to look like, and it’s not that right now.”
Peppers added: “It’s not no shot at anybody in the locker room. I said, ‘We.’ We own that. I own that.”
Peppers has started all 11 games for the Patriots this season, and the 2017 first-round draft choice of the Browns out of Michigan also has recorded one interception while defending six passes
He also has recorded 62 tackles and a sack this season.
Peppers didn’t shy away from his comments but said he knows he should’ve known better than to air his frustration that way.
“I’m a professional, so things like that should never happen,” he said. “No need to blame anyone but myself. This is my seventh year in the league. I’m 28 years old. 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.”
Peppers continued: “The guys in here, they know me. I speak my mind. I got caught in the hot mic and I didn’t even give Saquon a chance to tell me [he was wearing it]. I don’t think it was right they put that out, because a lot of things get said on that football field — and I know there are multiple people mic’d up game in and game out that they don’t put on.
“I was kind of taken aback by that, but at the end of the day, I own that. I own everything I say and I’m not running from it.”
The Patriots are finishing out what is a lost season and will look for their third win of the season on Sunday — likely with Bailey Zappe starting at quarterback — against the Chargers in a matchup in Foxborough.
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