Cardinals cornerback Patrick Peterson learned a new defensive system along with his teammates this offseason, but he thinks it will ultimately harken back to earlier times in his career.
Peterson feels his ability to make plays has been limited in the last few seasons because teams are able to avoid throwing the ball to his area. Based on what he saw during offseason work, Peterson thinks that head coach Steve Wilks and defensive coordinator Al Holcomb have come up with an approach that will make it easier for him to impact games.
"[I’m] very excited, ‘cause I’m gonna be doing a lot of new things that I haven’t done in my career -- in my NFL career,” Peterson said, via AZCentral.com. “I’m just looking forward to getting back to my playmaking ways because I believe over the last two and half, three years, I’ve been kind of handcuffed in doing that, because obviously teams try to stay away from me. But now, Coach Holcomb and Coach Wilks are going do a great job of finding ways to install me into the game.”
Regardless of where Peterson is lined up, forcing teams to look in his direction will require the rest of the secondary to hold up their end of things. Brandon Williams, Jamar Taylor and Bene Benwikere are some of the players vying for time alongside Peterson and whoever winds up on the field will have to make plays of their own for Arizona’s defense to fully take flight.