Patriots
FOXBOROUGH – The NFL placed safety and captain Jabrill Peppers on the commissioner's exempt list on Wednesday. three days after he was arrested and charged with assault and strangulation.
While Peppers is on the list, they are usually not allowed to practice or take part in games. He didn’t play in last Sunday's game against Miami and was also coping with a shoulder injury.
Peppers appeared in Quincy District Court on Monday. A hearing is scheduled for Nov. 22, but Peppers' appearance was waived.
Peppers was arrested early Saturday and charged with two felonies (assault with a dangerous weapon and strangulation or suffocation) and two misdemeanors (assault to a household member and possession of Class B drugs).
He is accused of choking a lady multiple times and pushing her head against a wall before forcing her out of his apartment. While Peppers was being searched, officers discovered a small bag of white powder in his wallet, which Peppers said was cocaine; According to the arrest report, the substance tested positive.
The Commissioner's Exempt list is the league's version of paid leave, where the player receives his weekly checks but just isn’t considered on the roster. If Peppers is suspended by the NFL, the Patriots could void the $4.32 million guaranteed salary in his 2025 contract and release him with none financial penalty.
The NFL has a formalized process for coping with off-field incidents related to violence against women. was developed in 2014 after the Ray Rice incident.
The NFL stays out of the best way of police investigations but follows cases closely and sometimes conducts supplementary investigations led by Lisa Friel, a former New York City prosecutor. The NFL sometimes penalizes a player even after formal charges are dropped.
The league's personal conduct policy states that violations involving criminal assault, domestic violence or dating violence are punishable by a base penalty of six games without pay, with commissioner Roger Goodell having the facility to extend or reduce the penalty depending on relevant aspects. Choking is listed as one in every of the aspects that may lead to suspension.
Without Peppers, Kyle Dugger will lead New England's safety group. Jaylinn Hawkins, Marte Mapu and Dell Pettus will proceed to play necessary roles. Dugger didn't play on Sunday because he suffered an ankle injury in Week 4, which resulted in Mapu and Hawkins being on the sphere for 100% of the defense's snaps. Pettus also posted a season high.
Coach Jerod Mayo called their performance “something to build on.”
“It was very encouraging,” Mayo said. “These boys have grown up [Sunday]. I like the way they played. Hopefully they will continue to develop at this rate in the future.”
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