KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Chiefs cornerback Marcus Peters received a one-game suspension for his meltdown against the New York Jets on Sunday, but the suspension came not from the NFL but rather head coach Andy Reid, who said he made the difficult decision in the team’s best interests.
“I like Marcus Peters so that’s a difficult thing to do,” Reid said. “Anytime you have to do one of these type of things, that’s not the best part of the job, no. But again, I’ve always told you, I’m going to do what I feel is best for this organization for that time and I try to set back and evaluate it, and that’s what I did with this and this is the conclusion I came down with.”
Kansas City Chiefs cornerback Marcus Peters returns an interception during the team’s game against the Pittsburgh Steelers Dec. 15, 2017. (Photo by Justin Olson, ChiefsDigest.com)
Reid declined to discuss the details of the suspension, other than indicate the decision stemmed from the incident during Sunday’s game.
“I’m going to leave all that stuff with Marcus and I,” Reid said. “I’m not going to get into the details. That’s not the way I roll with these things. I deal with the player man to man and we talk about it and discuss it and inevitably he’ll come back and we’ll move on from there.”
Peters did not appear in the locker room following Sunday’s game. His only public comment since Sunday’s game came on Twitter Tuesday morning: “Lol.”
The suspension marks the latest chapter for Peters in a young career marked at times by tantrums and lack of discipline. The cornerback received a one-game suspension during his junior year at Washington for a sideline outburst. The university dismissed Peters from the team later in the season due to disciplinary issues.
Peters earned the fourth unsportsmanlike conduct of his career and third of the season Sunday versus the Jets. Teammate Steven Nelson earned a penalty for defensive holding on an unsuccessful two-point conversion try by the Jets. Peters picked up the flag and threw it into the stands, then walked off the field to the locker room.
Reid said after the game Peters thought officials disqualified him for the incident. He later returned to the sideline without socks and some of his pads. He did not re-enter the game.
Peters earned his coach’s ire last season after punting a football into the stands on two separate occasions. He received only a single delay of game penalty for those transgressions.
Reid declined to share if the latest incident marked any sort of line in the sand for his competitive but volatile All-Pro corner.
“This was something that Marcus and I discussed and I leave it at that,” Reid said. “I’m not going to get into the whole (thing), other than I had a chance to Marcus and I felt this was the right thing to do at this time and not make it any more than that. That’s where I’m at.”
Quarterback Alex Smith said he officially learned of the Wednesday morning.
“Nobody likes to lose and when you have a lost a few in a row sometimes funny things happen,” Smith said. “It gets to people and it’s a tough situation. Coach made the decision though and we’re going to to go with it. Stakes are too big right now with what we’ve got in front of us, the opportunity in front of us.”
Smith suggested the team’s recent losing skid may have affected Peters.
“Nobody likes to lose and when you have a lost a few in a row sometimes funny things happen,” Smith said. “It gets to people and it’s a tough situation. Coach made the decision though and we’re going to to go with it. Stakes are too big right now with what we’ve got in front of us, the opportunity in front of us.”
Reid again reiterated that he does not believe this latest breakdown any discipline reflects poorly on his team’s locker room as a whole.
“I’ve got a group of guys that are veterans players that have been around and are good leaders,” Reid said. “I obviously bank on those guys. We’ve got a good influx of guys – we’ve got a pretty good locker room. That’s the positive. That’s how I feel, and you bank on that.”
Smith agreed with his head coach.
“I think we’ve got a good locker room, we’ve got a mature locker room,” Smith said. “Guys will handle it. Certainly for us being on the offensive side, we’re different, it doesn’t affect us directly. But those guys I think will handle it the right way.”
The coach said he informed his team’s leaders after making his decision to suspend Peters.
“I keep that in house,” Reid said. “I had a chance to talk with some of the players on my committee to give them just a heads up.”
Smith believes that the team stands ready to move on this week against the Raiders without Peters. The team shares the AFC West lead with Oakland and the Los Angeles Chargers.
“I can’t speak for everybody in here but certainly I know a lot of the leaders on this team I think are ready to go,” Smith said. “I think they understand it. It’s not easy, this is a hard situation, a hard decision, coach made it and we’re going. To go back and forth on all this stuff at this point is pointless a little bit. Let’s go.”
———-
Matt Derrick is the lead beat writer for ChiefsDigest.com. Use the contact page to reach him or find him on Twitter: @MattDerrick.
———-
