Jabrill Peppers is no longer captain of the Patriots following a “mutual decision” with Jerod Mayo

FOXBORO – Jabrill Peppers returned to playing football for the New England Patriots on Sunday. But the hard-hitting safety is no longer a team captain after his arrest in October over a domestic dispute.

Peppers played in his first game since Week 4 and was on the field in all 62 of the Patriots’ defensive snaps Sunday’s 25-24 loss to the Indianapolis Colts at Gillette Stadium. He led the New England defense with nine tackles.

“It felt pretty good,” Peppers said after the loss. “I surprised myself.”

“Mutual decision” to strip Jabrill Peppers of his captaincy

Peppers no longer wore the captain’s “C” patch on his jersey Sunday, which was immediately noticeable when he took the field to warm up.

“This was a mutual decision between me and (head coach Jerod) Mayo,” Peppers said in the locker room. “I’ll leave it at that.”

Peppers was elected one of six team captains by his Patriots teammates before the season. It was the first time he received the honor in New England after being a special teams captain twice with the New York Giants in 2020 and 2021.

Mayo was asked whether Peppers would remain captain after safety returned to training last week, but did not shed any light on the matter.

“We’ll have the conversation in the house,” Mayo said.

Jabrill Peppers arrested

Peppers was arrested on the morning of October 5th after an altercation with a woman at his Braintree apartment. The woman told police Peppers hit her, choked her and pushed her down the stairs.

Peppers, 29, was charged with assault on an intimate partner, assault with a dangerous weapon, strangulation and possession of a Class B drug. He has pleaded not guilty to those charges and has a trial date set for Jan. 22.

Peppers was on the commissioner’s exemption list for eight weeks after his arrest, but was removed last Monday and returned to practice for New England on Tuesday.