by Jay Glazer

"It was unbelievable because it was so out of character for him," said one Panther. "Pep NEVER talks. He's just never been a vocal guy. In all the years he has been here he's never opened up in front of the guys. This was so well thought out though, like it was half-psychologist, half-coach suddenly got into Pep. It really was incredible.

"We were shocked because, like I said, it's not him. It was great to hear."

According to several of his teammates, Peppers' speech centered around his own self accountability. While Peppers had not returned calls for this story, his message was relayed by several of his teammates.

Among the highlights relayed by Panthers players:

Peppers explained that as he stood on the sideline following a bad play the week before against the Redskins, and had somewhat of an epiphany. His initial reaction after blowing a play was to think of excuses why he messed up. However, seconds later the proverbial light bulb apparently went on and Peppers realized it was time to stop making excuses. It was time to look at the man in the mirror and take responsibility for his actions on the field.

He continued by telling the team he went home, put in tape of every game they've played thus far and was extremely disappointed in the man he saw on film. He admitted he needed to make a change immediately, change from the man who had disappointed himself thus far.

"While he was talking we were kind of looking at him with our jaws dropped," said another Panther. "It wasn't just last weekend either, he's been unbelievable all week this week. He really seems like he's different guy, totally different."

Peppers admitted that if he was ever asked to speak to the team his plan was to respectfully decline. But after coming clean with himself, his mind-set changed on the issue within the last week.

As he rolled through his message of self-accountability he shifted to the team photo. Peppers told his teammates that when their team photo was eventually placed on the wall of the team headquarters and people looked back at that photo years from now, how would he be remembered? Peppers again admitted he didn't want to be remembered as the player he had shown thus far.

It was yet another refreshingly honest assessment of a morning that appears to have revealed a different side to the former first-round pick.

By the way, Peppers responded the day after his speech with two sacks, seven tackles and a forced fumble. At least in the first game after his speech, Peppers appears to have seriously made a change.

No Snyder vote of confidence: When Redskins executive Vinny Cerrato gave Washington head coach Jim Zorn a vote of confidence this week, many believed Zorn's job was safe. However, ultimately it's not Cerrato's decision but rather owner Daniel Snyder. It's not as if Snyder didn't have the forum.

FOX NFL Sunday has learned that Snyder was urged by some of his confidantes to give his head coach a vote of confidence, but the owner opted not to. In fact, sources said that not only would the owner not be willing to come out with the vote of confidence, he also didn't want to be put in position where he'd field questions from reporters for fear that he would be unable to hold his tongue.

Ouch!

Lucky week for Cable: This week Raiders head coach Tom Cable avoided being charged in Napa on allegations that he assaulted assistant Randy Hanson and now it appears he may avoid punishment by the league as well. It turns out, Cable was lucky with the league office twice this week.

FOX NFL Sunday has learned that the league considered fining the Raiders coach a hefty fine for bumping the line judge in the Raiders win over the Eagles. Such a fine would carry a minimum fine in the $25,000 range. However, when league executives went back and further reviewed the incident, they deemed that it was not conclusive enough to slap him with a punishment.

Add on the fact that Oakland actually won last week, Cable should have hit Vegas this week to see if his luck could carry over.