The Wolverine

December 2016

The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports

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20 THE WOLVERINE DECEMBER 2016 snap in which the redshirt soph- omore was not involved, when freshman defensive end Rashan Gary put on a sensational move to get free off the edge and strike at the quarterback. "He comes off, and I'm standing there," Partridge recalled. "Jabrill goes: 'You've got to show me that move after practice. I've got to use that thing off the edge.' It's just thinking like that. It was real. It was genuine. He really wanted to learn that pass-rush move. "Jabrill is not a D-end. But he wants to learn as much as pos- sible. I think he's always going to continue to evolve." He's evolved enough to be con- sidered one of the top performers in the nation, whether bolting off the edge at a quarterback, gaining an edge himself in the wildcat or bringing Michigan Stadium deni- zens to the edge of their seats on punt returns. The promise that Curtis once witnessed is coming into full bloom for the Wolverines, giving them a difference-maker in every phase of the game. "He's naturally gifted for sure," Partridge said. "He's really hard to contain when he has the ball in his hands. He does have a passion for defense. He does like adjusting on the fly, when he's making calls and do- ing different things in different forma- tions. He takes pride in knowing stuff. He likes defense, and he likes to hit people. He's very physical. "He's a phenomenal offensive player as well. He enjoys that. He's in this thing where he doesn't have to choose. He's able, because of his abilities to play both and because of his mind to play both. He'll be able to do that until someone tells him he can't." Brown never tells him he can't. The veteran defensive coordinator just makes him wait sometimes. "Typically, after a drive, we have our little defensive meeting on the side- line," Peppers said. "Coach Brown tells me if I'm good, or if I have to stay and listen. If I'm good, I just go stand by the offense and wait for my number to be called. "If I had a bad series, I've got to sit there a little bit longer. After that, then I go." Peppers laughed over the restriction. He once missed going in on offense, because Harbaugh couldn't find him on the sideline. Now, once he's freed from the defensive debriefing, Peppers becomes a barnacle on Harbaugh's hull. "I'm just there now," Peppers said, smiling. "I don't want to miss any more opportunities. He sees me. Whenever he feels as the time is, that's when the time is. He gets paid to coach … my job is to make him look good." He's managed to do so regularly in 2016. THE PUSH FOR PERFECTION Peppers waves off Heisman Trophy talk, insisting he considers it an offen- sive award, requiring a big numbers build-up. He's more than content to just keep putting wins in the books on Saturdays. That said, Peppers gets everyone's attention, including that of Michigan's last Heisman winner. Charles Woodson's most recent ad- vice: "No matter how bad or good it gets, stay humble. Stay 10 toes down." Harbaugh certainly assists in that process. He pushes every Michi- gan player and knows perfectly well what it's like to draw high- decibel directives in a Michigan practice. Those days haven't gone away. "He coaches me hard, just like he does the rest of us," Peppers said. "Sometimes, particularly in summer camp, when you didn't feel like practicing or didn't feel like getting up, he just gave you that extra push to help you push through. "I was always told, 'The best player is always going to get coached the hardest.' I don't look at it like that, but if they're saying nothing to you, they don't love you. We all get coached hard. We all know what it is and how to take it. "We don't take anything per- sonally. It's to get better and win as many games as possible." So far, so good in that depart- ment. Peppers plays with an ebul- lience and reckless abandon dem- onstrating the freedom he feels when unleashed onto the field of play. Again, he'd much rather do it than talk about it. He's not crazy about the attention, whether from obsequious reporters or the occa- sional Twitter tough guy. "I don't understand it," he said. "But like my brother always told me, 'To whom much is given, much is ex- pected.' It's a double-edged sword. It's my responsibility to handle it the right way." Peppers understands this, without question: he's been given the role as major playmaker for one of the best college football teams in the nation. He's witnessed a Michigan football transformation and stands at the very heart of it. "When Coach Harbaugh came, he made competition the main thing," Peppers stressed. "If you're scared to compete, you're not going to play. That brought a lot of stuff out of people that they didn't know they had inside of them. The results are showing. "We're going to keep competing, keep striving, keep getting each other better and we'll see how this thing ends up." Talk is cheap. What Peppers and his teammates are experiencing is price- less. ❏ Peppers leads the defense with 38 solo tackles, 14 tackles for loss and eight quarterback hurries, as of Nov. 18. He also ranks second with 59 total stops and is tied for third with 4.0 sacks. PHOTO BY PER KJELDSEN

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