Safety Jabrill Peppers made it clear that the New England Patriots coaching staff drew him to the team in free agency. During a meeting with the reporters, he referenced his desire to learn from Bill Belichick. But it wasn’t just Belichick. Peppers wanted to keep working with his former head coach with the New York Giants: Joe Judge.
Judge and Peppers spent a few years together, but coincidentally, their time in New York came to an end simultaneously, with the Giants firing Judge and Peppers’ contract expiring. They both ended up in New England.
In 2022, Judge won’t have as much time to coach Peppers. Judge, who was a special teams coordinator before joining the Giants, is working on the offensive side of the ball in New England.
Was Peppers surprised to see that move?
“A little bit,” Peppers told reporters on Tuesday. “But back in New York he kind of leaned toward the offense and favored them a little bit more. So it’s not too much of a surprise to me. But it will be interesting to see what he does on the offensive side because usually I know him as the head guy and the special teams guru. So, it will be interesting to see him on that side and talk a little smack to him.”
Judge effusively praised Peppers during their time in New York. So it’s likely Judge had something to do with the Patriots signing Peppers in free agency, where — because of a recent ACL tear — the safety signed a one-year, $1.75-million contract that screams: Prove it. He trusts the Patriots to help him do just that.
“Me and Joe, we had a great relationship,” Peppers said. “Obviously I wanted to continue that. ”
