BY MICHAEL SPATH
T
here they clustered, every
newspaper, television, In-
ternet and radio reporter
gathered around Jabrill Pep-
pers, nervous that if they left him for
even a second, the redshirt freshman
might utter the one sound byte that
would appear in their competitors'
headlines.
So Peppers talked, and talked, and
talked, for all 40 minutes players
were available on Michigan's media
day Aug. 6. He spoke of playing his
"role" — whatever that might be —
to the best of his ability.
He talked about restoring the
Michigan swagger, and about how
badly the players and coaches want
to rebuild the tradition of success this
program once represented.
He discussed his reasons for shut-
ting down his Twitter feed during
camp, determined to rid himself of
distractions.
A gregarious personality that can
converse endlessly about football
without reciting the clichéd answers
that draw eye rolls from the press,
Peppers beamed with excitement
when discussing the defensive back-
field. But it's his potential role offen-
sively that has Michigan fans buzz-
ing with anticipation.
"Offense is definitely something I
am comfortable with — I think I'm
actually a better offensive player,
but I like defense a lot more and I'm
just as good on defense," said Pep-
pers, who qualifies his desire to play
both ways with a defensive focus.
"Offense is something that always
came naturally to me. But there is
something about defense — it takes
a different kind of guy, with a certain
mentality, to play defense.
"It really doesn't matter to me. I'll
do whatever I have to do to help my
team."
Michigan head coach Jim Har-
TRIPLE
THREAT
Jabrill Peppers Is Set To Impact
Defensively, And Maybe On
Offense And Special Teams
