Patriots Veteran Makes Bold Statement on Path to Success

New England Patriots safety Jabrill Peppers enters this 2025 NFL campaign with a bit of a renewed hunger, not only to re-establish himself as one of the better players at his position in the league, but to finally put together a winning season for the first time in his career.

Since being selected in the first round of the 2017 draft, Peppers has had his fair share of adversity. His rookie season was with the infamous 0-16 Cleveland Browns, after which he found his way to the New York Giants, where he logged only 10 wins across three years on the team. He then headed to New England, where he now finds himself climbing up a similarly steep slope to get to the top of the NFL mountain.

Sep 8, 2024; Cincinnati, Ohio, USA; New England Patriots safety Jabrill Peppers (5) reacts after the victory over the Cincinnati Bengals at Paycor Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Katie Stratman-Imagn Images | Katie Stratman-Imagn Images

With those trials and tribulations for Peppers also came some valuable experience, which is part of the message he's conveyed to the team through the Patriots OTAs on what it takes to build those habits of being an aspired winner.

"I ain't ever had a winning season, so I'll be the first one to tell you I'm tired of that," Peppers said during Wednesday's practice." But it starts with the little things. You've got to eliminate bad football. You've got to be fundamentally sound. You've got to play to your identity. There's going to be adversity year in and year out, and typically, the closest teams– they overcome that adversity."

Peppers was limited to only six games through the 2024 season, but the Patriots saw a good bit of bad football amid their four-win campaign.

Even during Peppers' time under Belichick for two years, New England had the wheels already falling off from the winning culture previously put together, with only 11 victories throughout those final two seasons.

Sep 29, 2024; Santa Clara, California, USA; New England Patriots safety Jabrill Peppers (5) celebrates with teammates after intercepting a pass during the fourth quarter against the San Francisco 49ers at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Sergio Estrada-Imagn Images | Sergio Estrada-Imagn Images

Despite being one of the better safety talents in the NFL, Peppers' time in the league hasn't translated to much success in the way of winning football games. But now, for the year ahead, there seems to be a renewed sense of optimism in the building for what 2025 could hold.

The coaching staff is vastly different, an assortment of new veterans have been added through free agency, and with another year of adding fresh young talent while developing the already-budding young guys on the roster, there is a world where this Patriots regime starts off red-hot, and in turn, gets Peppers to reach that long-awaited winning season.

Time will tell if all of the moving pieces of this offseason click to make that leap happen for the Patriots, but for Peppers, it all starts with building small.

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