Peters’ Principles

Marcus Peters is one of the NFL’s smartest and most passionate players. His coaches and teammates love the guy and if you’re one of those who believes that he’s been chased down a path to John Harbaugh’s doghouse, think again. Why would Harbaugh want to diffuse the competitive fire that burns in Peters’ soul? Why would he seek to undermine the insatiable desire to win that runs like a freight train through the veins of Peters?

Doghouse? I don’t think so.

Peters is a dawg – a term affectionately applied to players who will fight, claw, study, trash talk and yes, even have a verbal spat with his coach. Add it all up and it only proves that Peters cares every bit as much as his head coach. Add it all and you want that dawg. You need that dawg.

Recently, in a rare sit down with a member of the media, Peters chatted with Logan Murdock from The Ringer, someone the oft-misunderstood cornerback has known for many years. The piece is revealing – it gives the reader a glimpse into the mind of Marcus Peters, to see how he thinks, to understand what makes him tick.

Peters shared many things including his upbringing; days at the University of Washington; and his well-traveled career in the NFL. Here are a few of his uncensored “soundbites” along with my takes on each…

On Lamar Jackson

“I love the shit out of Lamar … I love the shit out of him, man, and I just hate that…(pregnant pause)…I hate that that much pressure can be on one person, man, and the rest of the team. Just sometimes you get caught looking from the outside in, but no. I let him know all the time, man, ‘We out there with you.’”

Football is the ultimate team sport. It takes 11 men on each side of the ball including special teams, to win football games. Teams seek the weak link on an opponent’s roster. They prey on the weak link. Don’t be the weak link, but at the same time, don’t think you have to do it all yourself. You have to trust the man beside you. He’ll never admit it publicly, but you have to wonder if at times Lamar doesn’t have trust in his receivers. After all, while division rival QB Joe Burrow has Ja’Marr Chase, Tee Higgins and Tyler Boyd to throw to, the Ravens currently roll out Devin Duvernay, DeMarcus Robinson and 35-year old, oft-injured DeSean Jackson for Lamar.

That said, Peters leadership role, particularly as a defender, is both admired and appreciated.

The Sideline Beef With Harbaugh

“We got to play our part at that point of time in-game, man. It was our duty to go stop [them]. I wanted that to be on us.”

According to Peters, Harbaugh preaches accountability and responsibility. During the week, Harbaugh will remind the team that the defense needs to take care of their business and not allow games to fall squarely on Lamar’s shoulders. In that Buffalo game, Harbaugh didn’t give the defense an opportunity to stop Josh Allen and the Bills. Peters thought THAT was the time to kick the field goal and take a 23-20 lead; he thought THAT was the time for the defense to be accountable and to assume their responsibility for a win – one that never happened.

Hence the passionate exchange with Harbaugh on the sideline.

“I think the biggest thing for us as a team is that I hate the fact that we get looked at as Lamar and the Ravens.”

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Smart Player

One day during practice, Peters jumped a route while defending James Proche. The Ravens receiver was in awe of Peters’ read and react skills on the play.

“I was just like, ‘Bro, how did you know?’ “And he was like, ‘You can only run this amount of routes from this split and this, this, and that.’ He broke it down to a science. So it was just cool to see. You hear about it growing up, but to be teammates with him and go against him in practice every day and actually feel that presence, it’s impressive.”

Imagine the value that Peters brings to the DB room; the value of that experience to players like Jalyn Armour-Davis and Pepe Williams.

Peters’ Future in Baltimore

“I want to stay. I think that it’ll be the best thing for me to end up here. So I wouldn’t go nowhere else, but I ain’t tripping. I’m really trying to just focus on winning this year, bro, and I’m going to take the offseason as it comes. If we get some things done, and it works out for both sides, then I’m going to knock it out.”

Marcus Peters will turn 30 years old on January 9. The market for thirty-something corners in the modern NFL is a bearish one. But there are exceptions. We’ll see how things shake out for the balance of the season and when it concludes, I’m sure there will be professional discussions between the sides. Parameters will be set, all of course guided by the right player-right price credo.

Peters has never been a burner. He ran a 4.53 forty at the Combines. But his tenacity, smarts and instincts attracted teams to his talents, talents that helped make him the 18th overall pick in the 2015 NFL Draft; talents that helped him become the NFL’s Defensive Rookie of the Year; talents that have made him a 3-time All Pro and Pro Bowler; talents that have delivered 32 interceptions and 6 pick-sixes in his 101 NFL games.

The Balance of the Ravens 2022 Season

“We going to keep getting better. We going to keep getting healthier, first and foremost. We going to ask and hope that God can keep us safe so we don’t have no more injuries, and we going not be straight, bro. I like our shot. Real shit. I want us to keep stacking.”

Recency bias taints our opinions. That’s the world we live in. We focus upon the now and oftentimes fail to step back and look at the big picture. Maybe Peters hit a bad patch against the Jaguars. Maybe the game plan didn’t fit the matchup. Maybe we’ve forgotten that this is Marcus’ first season following the ACL surgery. Maybe he and the Ravens are going to get better.

One game at a time.

The stacking party reconvenes on Sunday at 1PM.

[Related Article: Ravens Keeping it Together]

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