Julius Peppers Speaks; You May Not Want to Listen

AP Sports Writer Mike Cranston got Julius Peppers to speak about his sub-par season. I’ll warn you Panthers fans; this may not be what you were hoping to hear.

Peppers isn't sure what he has to do. He acknowledged teams aren't double-teaming him as much anymore, yet he's having a more difficult time getting to the quarterback.
"I find a lot of guys now bailing out. That means jumping back 5 yards from the line and taking the edge away," Peppers said. "That is something I am seeing a lot more, not giving the inside up but trying to force me to go inside and not around the edge. Once you go inside, there's more traffic to get through."

If that’s the case then why don’t we run more stunts to the inside like the one he used to sack the QB and force a fumble against the Cardinals?

"I’m not going to go out and change how I’ve been playing for years just because I’m struggling now," Peppers said. "I will stick with what I know and hopefully that will work."

Again, it’s DC Mike Trgovac's job to adjust to what the offense is doing to free Peppers up. If they are taking away the outside then run him inside and stunt the DT. Surely there are things that can be done to help him out. He makes it sound like it’s solely up to him to figure out how to fix it. Why are we so devoid of creativity on both sides of the ball?

The more I hear from the players and coaches the more I wonder what in the hell we're paying the coaches to do. Certainly the answers can’t be as simple as they seem to be yet why else would he be saying these things if they weren’t true?

I was expecting him to say things like "they are throwing the ball quicker", "I’m being double-teamed" or "I’m dropping into coverage a lot more". Basically what he is saying is he has no "bull rush" in him this year or any type of inside move. If he can’t get the edge then he’s ineffective. Lord help us and Julius Peppers. Obviously no one else is.