Las Vegas Raiders training camp: What Marcus Peters sees in defense; Jimmy G picks pile up

Marcus Peters knows when he sees a good defense.

After all, he’s been a part of them throughout his NFL career.

Since joining the league in 2015, Peters has played for the Kansas City Chiefs, Los Angeles Rams and the Baltimore Ravens.

Each had success defensively when Peters was there.

He’s hoping that carries over to his childhood team after signing with the Las Vegas Raiders prior to training camp.

When asked if the Raiders have what it takes to get it done on defense, Peters responded in the affirmative.

“We’re hungry,” he said. “We want to up everything that we’re going to do on defense and like I said we want to show our effort, we want our communication to be displayed in our play. And then our play is going to be able to show all our effort.”

Peters made his first interception as a Raider in training camp on Tuesday.

That theme has continued in the practices, with the Raiders seeing other defensive backs coming up with picks..

Still to be determined is whether that carries over when the Raiders’ 2023 season begins Sept. 10 in Denver, but it’s encouraging the defense is making plays so early in camp.

Other players, such as rookie Jakorian Bennett, are going to Peters for feedback.

“MP is a cool dude,” Bennett said. “He’s helped me so much, like the second practice, he caught an interception and that kinds of rubs off (on) everybody else in the room. He’s so smooth and cerebral. Him being an open book, if I can get some of the knowledge that he has going into year 1, that kind of help me slow down the game a lot.”

The Raiders’ young players are calling Peters an “OG.”

He talked of going up to vets as a rookie in Kansas City to now being the veteran and helping others out.

“I’m the oldest in the group now,” he said. “It’s cool. I was in that position once, and I had amazing vets in KC, and that’s what football is about. You’ve got to be able to pass the game down man, because the game is only going to get younger. And the OG’s there’s only going to be a certain select few who’s going to be able to stick around.

“To see you pass down some game and then see the youngsters go out there and put it to test, that’s the biggest blessing ever.”

So far, so good. Just ask Raiders star defensive end Maxx Crosby about Peters.

“He’s an alpha,” he said. “I love Marcus. I’ve known him since my rookie year, we’ve got the same agent. Marcus is my guy. I love Marcus, he brings that attitude that we need in the secondary, and I can’t wait to see him get out there and keep competing because he’s a dog for sure.”

Raiders running back Brandon Bolden echoed what Crosby said.

“Vet leadership,” he said. “Someone who’s been there, done that, can help the young guys, point them in the right direction and stuff like that. Kind of the same role I’m stepping into these days. Kind of like the elder men of the group, and kind of just be there to help out and when your number is called get out there and play.”

Even Raiders cornerback Brandon Facyson, who’s been in the NFL since 2018, seeks pointers.

“He definitely is a ball hawk, definitely,” he said. “He brings that competitive toughness. And we all have that. But him coming in being a vet, being that ball hawk and player that we know he is, and he knows he is, it’s something we all want to kind of rally along with and we all want to create turnovers. He’s been helping us all.”

With Peters on the roster, it can bode well a Raiders defense that needs a spark beyond the one provided by its biggest star in Crosby.

The more the merrier, as Crosby leads the front and Peters the back end of the defense.

“We want to have fun doing it at the same time,” Peters said. “I think that we’re all on the same boat of just let’s just come to work, keep building our camaraderie together and then be ready to put a product on the field that’s Raiders.”

Raiders-49ers joint practice

The Raiders will host the San Francisco 49ers for a two-day joint practice beginning Thursday.

It will be a test for the Raiders to see where they’re at against one of the NFL’s elite defenses. The 49ers could be without star defensive end Nick Bosa, who’s in a contract holdout.

It will be a reunion for Raiders quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, who played for the 49ers for six seasons.

The Raiders and 49ers will play a preseason game at 1 p.m. Aug. 13.

Garoppolo throwing interceptions

Training camp is a difficult time to gauge precisely how teammates are doing against one another, but it’s been an up and down start to camp at best for Garoppolo.

On Saturday, Garoppolo reportedly threw three interceptions. ESPN’s Paul Gutierrez said Amik Robertson, Peters and Tre’von Moehrig all picked off Garoppolo.

Earlier in the week, Garoppolo threw interceptions to Robert Spillane, Moehrig and Isaiah Pola-Mao.

Panic time?

Not quite, the staff says.

“No concerns,” Raiders coach Josh McDaniels said. “We’ve seen some really good throws. There’s been some credit given to the other side when they make a play. It’s normal ebbs and flows of camp.”