Was Sunday Julius Peppers’ last game?

Green Bay Packers outside linebacker Julius Peppers dressed quietly and slowly in the visitors locker room at the Georgia Dome.

After pulling on a shirt Peppers turned around to face the crowd of reporters around him, many of whom were there to ask about his future.

Peppers, who at 37 has some grey hairs poking through his beard, said he believes he still has at least another season left in him but isn’t sure whether he’ll keep playing.

“I’ll let you know when I find out,” Peppers said.

If Sunday was the final game for former Panther and future Hall of Famer, Peppers will have gone out quietly.

Peppers had three tackles but was held without a sack in the Packers’ 44-21 loss to Atlanta in the NFC Championship Game.

Peppers got close to Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan a couple of times but was not credited with any pressures. That was the story of the game for all of the Packers, who finished with no sacks on Ryan while the leading MVP candidate threw for 392 yards and four touchdowns.

Ryan had completions to convert three first downs on the Falcons’ opening drive, which he capped with an improvised, 2-yard shovel pass to Mohamed Sanu.

That was a sign of things to come for Atlanta, which converted 77 percent (10 of 13) of its third-down chances for the game.

“I thought he got off to a fast start,” Peppers said of Ryan. “They converted a lot of third downs. That really was the difference in the game – them converting third downs early and scoring touchdowns instead of field goals.”

During the Packers’ playoff run, players talked about wanting to get to the Super Bowl for Peppers, whose only Super Bowl appearance came after the 2003 season during his second year in Carolina.

But it was not be.

“All of them are tough to take. Once you get this close and you don’t end the season the way you want to, it’s a little bit of a disappointment,” Peppers said. “This one is just like the rest of them. No difference.”

Peppers is a free agent this offseason and is not expected to be back with Green Bay.

Peppers, who finished with 7.5 sacks this season and has 143.5 in his career, would be a good fit for a team looking for a veteran pass rusher, assuming he wants to play.

That was the situation veteran defensive end Dwight Freeney found himself in last offseason before signing with the Falcons in August. Now Freeney, who played in two Super Bowls with the Colts, is going back with Atlanta.

Freeney, part of the 2002 draft class with Peppers, can relate as well as anyone to Peppers’ situation.

“It’s not easy. It takes a toll on your body and mind,” Freeney said. “Hopefully he comes back. But if he doesn’t, I can completely understand.”

Peppers, the former two-sport star at North Carolina, ranks fifth on the all-time sacks list with 143.5. Freeney is 18th with 122.5 career sacks.

“He’s played a long time, man. Great, great, great player. He’s pushed me all my career,” Freeney said. “He’s had an amazing career. If he does call it an end, it’s been a great ride.”

Steve Smith, one of Peppers’ Panthers teammates, retired after this season despite Baltimore officials saying they wanted him to keep playing.

“Steve is a great athlete. He could probably still play if he wanted to. He’s already made his decision,” Peppers said. “But he’s one of those once-in-a-lifetime athletes that can do it and just do it until they feel like they can’t anymore.”

Peppers just as easily could have been talking about himself – and maybe was.

This story was originally published January 23, 2017 at 1:59 AM with the headline "Was Sunday Julius Peppers’ last game?."