Julius

Peppers

The dominant defensive end lined up at tackle and stood up as a linebacker in Carolina’s last preseason game. Carolina may use Peppers like New England uses Richard Seymour, as the versatile anchor of a strong a defensive line. This could be great for Peppers’ IDP potential.

He has seven sacks in his last four games. His most impressive play was probably tracking down Michael Pittman from behind on a 68-yard catch earlier in the game. He’s probably headed for the Pro Bowl.

Peppers, 39, was selected with the No. 2 overall pick in the 2002 draft and won Defensive Rookie of the Year honors after recording 12 sacks in just 12 games. Peppers spent the first eight years of his career with the Panthers before striking a mammoth free-agent deal with the Bears and spending four years there before a three-year stint with the Packers. Peppers returned to Carolina in 2017 with 11 sacks as a 37-year-old. Peppers’ 159.5 career sacks rank fourth all time behind Bruce Smith, Reggie White, and Kevin Greene. He also picked off 11 passes. Peppers was a nine-time Pro Bowler and three-time first-team All-Pro and missed only six games in his career. He made just as big of an impact off the field. Peppers is a first-ballot Hall of Famer.

He was smiling as he went to the locker room and walking under his own power. Unfortunately for the Bears, immediately after Peppers left the Lions dialed up a deep ball to Calvin Johnson for a touchdown.

He left briefly in the second quarter, but returned to finish out the game. With backup Corey Wootton out several weeks with a broken hand, the Bears may struggle to generate outside pass rush against Minnesota if Peppers can’t go.

Peppers’ sprain appears mild. He limped off during Monday night’s loss to the Lions and missed a few plays, but effectively played through it for most of the game. It sounds like the kind of injury he can get braced, and then gut it out as soon as this week. Peppers has two sacks and 12 tackles through five games. It’s interesting to note that Lions OC Scott Linehan saw Peppers leave in the first quarter Monday night. On the very next play, Linehan dialed up a bomb to Calvin Johnson. The Lions executed for a 73-yard touchdown.

Peppers finished the month with a flourish, recording two sacks, a tackle-for-loss and five quarterback pressures against the Raiders last week. He has eight sacks and 41 QB pressures in 11 games this season. Peppers is on pace for his seventh double-digit sack season as one of the NFL’s premier defenders.

Chicago has rotated Julius Peppers, Israel Idonije, Shea McClellin, Henry Melton, and Cory Wootton between DT and DE. “We’ve moved all of our defensive linemen different places, and that could all change next week,” coach Lovie Smith said. “That’s the beauty of having the type of athletic ability we have there.” The Bears currently have four defensive linemen ranked in the top 40 in sacks.

Peppers was visibly hobbled, but he and his teammates had the Vikings’ number from the jump. Lovie Smith kept Peppers in the game until the closing minutes, despite a 26-point lead that was maintained from midway through the third quarter until the final whistle. Whether or not that was a wise move remains to be seen, but Peppers certainly showed supreme toughness while playing effectively through a sprained MCL that had him doubtful on the injury report.

Listed as doubtful heading into tonight’s game, it’s a fair bet that he won’t be playing at 100 percent. Regardless, his presence should give the Bears’ front seven a much-needed boost.