Patriots’ Jabrill Peppers Issues Apology for Criticizing Team Following Weekend Defeat

Following the Giants’ 10-7 victory over the Patriots on Sunday, Patriots safety Jabrill Peppers made some disparaging remarks about his own team as the players exited the field.

In a conversation that Peppers didn’t realize could be overheard by the media microphones, he said to Giants running back Saquon Barkley, “You lucky we ass.”

Today, Peppers offered an apology for his comments, acknowledging the frustrations stemming from the Patriots’ disappointing season but clarifying that he did not intend to belittle his teammates or coaches.

“First of all, I want to apologize to my teammates and coaches for having to address questions like that,” Peppers stated. “We have more pressing matters to attend to than my unintended hot mic incident. However, at the end of the day, we’re 2-9 and we have a Top 5 draft pick that wasn’t acquired through a trade. We understand the standard and the expectations, and right now, we’re falling short. This isn’t a jab at anyone in the locker room. I said ‘we.’ We take ownership of that. We have good players, great players, in the locker room, but every team has great players. There’s great parity across the league. And if those great and good players aren’t executing, that team isn’t a good team. But that doesn’t reflect on the character of the men we have in this locker room. We all come to work with the willingness and readiness to do whatever we can to help this team win. The ball hasn’t been rolling in our favor, and that’s on no one but us.”

Peppers is undoubtedly not the only frustrated individual in the Patriots’ locker room this year, and he’s probably not the only one to have made such comments. However, he’s the only one whose comments were made public, and it’s commendable that he took responsibility for his words.