Due to a shoulder injury, safety Jabrill Peppers of the New England Patriots was downgraded from doubtful to out for their Sunday game against the Miami Dolphins.
Peppers practiced very little on Wednesday and very little on Thursday and Friday.
Against Miami (1-3), New England (1-3) may also be depleted at safety because Kyle Dugger, their other starting safety, missed all of practice this week because of an ankle injury and is considered questionable.
For safety support, the Patriots may turn to seasoned reserves Jaylinn Hawkins and Brenden Schooler in addition to undrafted rookie Dell Pettus. Security Due to a calf problem, Marte Mapu was limited in practice this week and is rated as doubtful.
The 29-year-old Peppers has started all four games, recorded 23 tackles, one interception, and two passes defensed. He turned 29 on Friday.
8-year-old Peppers has 494 career tackles in 97 games (83 starts), 28 tackles for loss, 5.5 sacks, 7 interceptions (one recovered for a score), 5 forced fumbles, and 7 fumble recoveries.
In the first round of the 2017 NFL Draft, the Cleveland Browns selected Peppers, a Michigan native, with the 25th overall pick. He was a player for the Patriots (2019–21), Browns (2017–18), and New York Giants (2019–21).
In his four starts this season, Dugger, 28, has racked up 20 tackles, three tackles for loss, one sack, and one forced fumble.
He was selected by the Patriots in the second round of the 2020 NFL Draft. Throughout 65 games (56 starts), he has racked up 363 tackles, 20 tackles for loss, 3.5 sacks, nine interceptions (two returned for touchdowns), 21 passes defended, three forced fumbles, and two fumble recoveries.
Patriots remove reference to the team podcast’s locker room rebellion.
The question now seems to be “when” rather than “if” the New England Patriots would switch from Jacoby Brissett to Drake Maye during the season.
However, a remark made on one of the team’s official podcasts has given the Patriots’ quarterback dispute a new twist.
In an episode of the team’s Catch-22 podcast, presenter Evan Lazar talked about the Patriots’ quarterback issue after New England’s 30-13 loss to the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday. And with that, Lazar offered an intriguing remark on Brissett’s play and its impact on the locker room in New England.
“Right now, they’re teetering on a mutiny in that locker room,” stated Lazar, according ProFootballTalk.com. Furthermore, I don’t want to come across as alarmist or overly dramatic. But on Sunday, I was in that locker room following the game. The defense was furious with itself. The offense was upset at the offensive. Young receivers are practically having tantrums while being filmed.
“I’ll say it again, as I have in the past. Now that you’re in the locker room with fifty-two other people, you all know that they drafted Drake Maye third overall and that they watch these two quarterbacks train every day. And when does some of these guys ask themselves, “Why can’t Drake kick my butt every Sunday while I go out there and get kicked?,” We have a Ferrari back in the garage that can get me the football, so why am I going out there with a quarterback who can’t get it?
Even if Lazar’s analysis appeared to blend opinion with reporting, it’s not the kind of statement you would anticipate hearing on a podcast with the team’s name on it. It seems that the Patriots also agreed, since superfan BabzOnTheMic of the team noticed that the episode’s replay had been taken down from X and YouTube, and the podcast episode’s audio had been altered to remove a mention about a possible mutiny.
“Right now they’re teetering on a mutiny in that locker room” – @ezlazar on Catch 22, the IN-HOUSE PODCAST PRODUCED BY THE NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS!!!!
Evan did not hold back during this 1 minute rant 🤯 pic.twitter.com/pXIsvyeTD1
— Babz (@BabzOnTheMic) October 3, 2024
Audio is still up on Apple and Spotify. It’s from the 57:30 mark. They scrubbed out the part where Lazar called it a mutiny. Funny stuff. pic.twitter.com/AdBEqDTj1p
— Babz (@BabzOnTheMic) October 3, 2024
Additionally, Lazar was given the chance to “rephrase” his remarks when he appeared on the team’s flagship station, 98.5 The Sports Hub, according to PFT’s Mike Florio.
Lazar said, “I’ll fully admit I got a little carried away on the podcast today.” Despite the term’mutiny’ that I used, there isn’t any in the Patriots’ locker room. Furthermore, I was to blame for getting carried away, as I already stated. You know that wasn’t what was going on.
“To be really honest, I’m more worried about how long Drake Maye will have to wait for his chance while the other players will just sit there and take it than I am about what the other men in the locker room will do. That was only my opinion, and I didn’t intend for it to be expressed with such vehemence.
Evan Lazar (@ezlazar) tells @JoeyMurr he “got a little carried away” with the locker room mutiny comments on a Patriots podcast earlier today. pic.twitter.com/l3ErOUsnuR
— 98.5 The Sports Hub (@985TheSportsHub) October 4, 2024
This is ultimately the problem with team-run media, particularly for a losing squad. Although these podcasts are created in the pretense of being objective, the truth is that teams can only take so much bad press over what is essentially thinly veiled PR.
Though it’s debatable if reporting and analysis of this kind belong in a Patriots-produced piece of material, the team’s reaction to the whole situation may be the most intriguing part of it all.
If the team had allowed the podcast to stay in place, it could have gained significant attention in New England for a few days before swiftly fizzling out after the team’s next game. However, by removing the show, it has now gained national attention and raised concerns about the function of team-run media as well as, more crucially for the Patriots, the quarterback position.
In the end, this belongs to the Patriots, and they can handle it anyway they see fit. However, by making the deliberate effort to remove such remarks from their own program, they are essentially letting you know that in upcoming episodes, you can only anticipate hearing things they want you to hear.
