Rams head coach Sean McVay was at an awards ceremony in Kansas City on Saturday and that meant he got asked about the team’s agreement to trade for Chiefs cornerback Marcus Peters.
That trade can’t become official until March 14, which limited McVay’s ability to answer without violating the league’s rules on tampering. McVay said Peters is a “great player” but didn’t have any other comments about the move or the cornerback.
McVay was able to speak more freely about something that was a concern for Peters in Kansas City. Peters was suspended for a game last season due to his behavior during and after a game and such concerns likely contributed to the Chiefs’ decision to trade a young and talented player at this point. McVay spoke in general terms about how the Rams handle their players.
“These are grown men, and it starts with the mutual respect that exists, where they know it’s about developing and building relationships,” McVay said, via the Kansas City Star. “If we’re going to ask our players to be coachable, we’ve got to be coachable as coaches as well. That displays an ownership and an accountability that we try to all have and makes the players more receptive to the messages we try to implement. ... They know exactly what the expectations are, what our standards are, and they know what it is to do it the right way.”
Defensive tackle Aaron Donald was also at the event and counseled that McVay’s smile shouldn’t fool anyone because “he’ll get after you when you do something wrong.” The Rams surely hope that won’t be necessary with Peters this year.