Julius Peppers describes Aaron Rodgers' strengths and recalls two specific hits he put on the Packers QB

[Sir Purr]

Allow Peppers to go into more detail on that subject.


“There are going to be a lot of checks, alerts, dummy calls, things of that sort,” Peppers said. “He tries to get a look at the defense and get the defense to show their hand. He’s also trying to do that to get you offsides. His voice inflection on his cadence and his hard count is an overlooked skill. Once or twice a game he’s going to get the defense to jump offsides and he’ll take a shot downfield.”


Speaking of taking shots, Peppers recalled two plays in particular when he was bearing down on Rodgers. You can listen to his breakdown in the video above.


The first was in 2008 when the Panthers were up in Green Bay. Rodgers was in his fourth season but it was his first as the full-time starter following Brett Favre’s departure.


“He was scrambling out to the righthand side and I came and put a pretty good hit on him right on the sideline – it was actually out of bounds,” Peppers said. “But it was a pretty good hit. He got up from that hit and pounded his chest a few times, pointed first down. I was like, ‘OK, this guy is really tough.’ I didn’t know much about him at the time, but I knew he would be a great player. That was toughness personified on that play.”


Then there was the 2017 matchup in Charlotte when Rodgers made his return to action after missing time with a collarbone injury.


Late in the game on fourth-and-14, Peppers had a clear path to Rodgers, who had his eyes fixed downfield.


“I beat my guy pretty good and he’s just sitting there in the pocket waiting. He didn’t see me at all. I’m just coming free,” Peppers said. “If I really wanted to, I could have put a big hit on him. I knew he was coming off the collarbone surgery and this was his first game back. Not to say I took it easy on him, but … at this point in time I’m just going for the ball, I’m not trying to really level him.”


Peppers put Rodgers on the ground and the Panthers won the game. After that sack, Peppers checked on his former teammate, who responded with a thankful helmet tap.


“I like Aaron,” Peppers said, “and I have a lot of respect for him as a player.”