Jabrill Peppers feels good about himself, and even better about the Patriots defense

One of the most active and noticeable players during the club’s on-field workouts this spring, the seven-year veteran has been lining up and making his presence felt from a variety of spots as he prepares to expand his roles.

Like a lot of his defensive back brethren, Peppers can’t be defined by one position.

The chiseled 5-foot-11-inch, 215-pounder has been spotted close to the box, deep in center field, and as a nickel. He plays either side on two-high-safety looks, depending on whom he is partnered with.

“I think that’s just a credit to everyone’s versatility,” Peppers said. “We all play in a deep part of the field. We can cover man-to-man, whether it’s a tight end, running back, or if we’ve got to replace a blitzer from the corners. Everyone is real comfortable in the box and knowing how to read the triangle, you know, things like that.”

The ability of New England’s defensive backs to mix, match, and disguise coverages could cause chaos for quarterbacks.

“We run the same play, but we just flip two guys, now it looks like a completely different defense,” Peppers said. “So they just kind of keep spinning the dial, you know, we got a lot of continuity going on. We only lost one player [Devin McCourty], a great player, but we all know each other pretty well. So, we’re just kind of trying to build off that and take the next steps with that.”

Bill Belichick wasn’t shy about noting the growth Peppers has shown since joining his program last offseason.

“Oh my God, yeah. He’s a much different player now than he was last year at this time, or even in training camp,” said the coach. “A full year after the injury, a lot of confidence in the communication, the system, his assignments. He’s playing fast, aggressive, helping out his teammates.

“Last year he was trying to learn things, now he’s helping out his teammates, anticipating, making calls or adjustments that maybe help him or possibly help his teammate be in a better position to defend a certain play or type of play. Yeah, he’s been great. He’s way ahead of where he was last year.”

Peppers couldn’t hide his enthusiasm for how good he thinks this defense can be.

“We’re really excited,” he said. “Nothing that we did last year matters, but, you know, we know the type of defense we can be if we execute. We know where we fell short of last year, the mistakes that we made that might’ve cost us.

“But we’re all a year older, a lot of guys got good play-time experiences, and we’re just trying to build on that, man.”

Here are some other observations from the second workout of minicamp.

▪ There was a heavy emphasis on conditioning early on, with sprints and other speed and agility drills.

▪ The offense continues to run a ton of two-tight-end sets, and it’s clear Mac Jones is very comfortable throwing to Hunter Henry and Mike Gesicki.

▪ The defense started the day fast, registering would-be sacks of Jones on the first two plays of the first full-team period, prompting a lot of hooting and hollering from the lads in blue.

▪ Things got temporarily testy when guard Chasen Hines took exception to some high hand work from linebacker Anfernee Jennings. Matthew Judon stepped in and quickly quelled the uprising.

▪ Jack Jones and Marques Jones had picks on Mac Jones. Shaun Wade, Joshuah Bledsoe (two), and Christian Gonzalez had pass breakups.

▪ Mac Jones caught one of his own passes (someone get Gisele on the line!) after it was deflected at the line by Christian Barmore.

▪ The quarterback’s best period came late when he went 5 of 7 during a full-team exercise. There was a little rookie hazing on the drive as Jones connected with DeVante Parker three times, all with Isaiah Bolden in coverage.

▪ Rookie quarterback-turned-receiver Malik Cunningham took some read-option snaps during what was basically a walkthrough session.

▪ On hand to take in practice was another quarterback-turned-receiver: Julian Edelman. The former Super Bowl MVP spent time chatting up Belichick and former teammate/roommate Matthew Slater.

▪ Undrafted rookie Jourdan Heilig is basically attached to Slater’s hip at practice as he continues to hone his special teams craft from one of the all-time greats.

▪ The club is scheduled to wrap up its offseason program with a final practice Wednesday.

Jim McBride can be reached at james.mcbride@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @globejimmcbride.