In KC, Marcus Peters faced Patrick Mahomes in practice. He’ll see the real thing Monday

It’s not unusual for the Chiefs to run into a former player on the opposing team. But no reunion in recent years has been this high profile.

When the Chiefs visit the Los Angeles Rams on Monday night, cornerback Marcus Peters will line up against his old team and confront the scout-team quarterback who challenged him daily in practice last year.

Patrick Mahomes said he’s looking forward to meeting Peters in a different uniform.

“He’s going to play to his strengths and I’m going to play to mine,” Mahomes said.

Depending on who did the talking, each player enjoyed success against the other in those confrontations. Former Chiefs outside linebacker Tamba Hali, in a preseason interview, mentioned Mahomes looked off Peters “a lot.”

A trash-talking moment?

“I never did on scout team,” Mahomes said. “You kind of have to know you role when you’re on the scout team and just do what the card says.”

In the present, Mahomes is having the better season. His two touchdown passes in last week’s victory over the Arizona Cardinals gave him a team-record 31. He tops the NFL in that category and in passing yards with 3,150.

Peters has struggled. He has a NFL-best 20 interceptions over the past four seasons, but only one has come this year. According to Pro Football Focus, he’s rated last among 72 corners who have played at least 50 snaps.

What’s happened?

For starters, Peters is being used differently in Los Angeles. With the Chiefs, Peters played exclusively on the left side no matter who lined opposite him. The Rams move him around.

“Numbers can tell a different story than what reality is,” Rams coach Sean McVay said. “The reality is we put him in a lot of difficult spots where he’s one-on-one with the opposing team’s best receiver.”

In the Rams’ lone loss, at New Orleans two weeks ago, Peters had trouble keeping up with Michael Thomas, who had six receptions on eight targets, including a late 72-yard touchdown. At that point, Peters had surrendered six touchdowns on the season, two more than in his final year with the Chiefs.

Peters owned up to the poor performance — “I didn’t execute,” he said — and that impressed McVay.

“I think guys that are secure enough in themselves and willing to be vulnerable when things don’t always work out perfectly is actually a demonstration of strength,” McVay said. “That’s what he did right there.”

In three Chiefs seasons, Peters ranked among the best at his position. He collected an interception on the first defensive snap of his pro career and was the NFL’s Defensive Rookie of the Year in 2015 when he shared the league lead with eight interceptions.

Peters mostly played off the receivers and proved superb at jumping routes. He returned two picks for touchdowns as a rookie, and one of his most unforgettable moments occurred in 2016 when he stripped the ball from Carolina Panthers wide receiver Kelvin Benjamin after a reception in the final moments, setting up a game-winning field goal.

Peters’ punctuated that play by kicking the ball into the stands, and such antics and some bizarre behavior likely had a role in his departure from the Chiefs, who received a fourth-round pick in 2018 and a second-round pick in 2019 while also surrendering a sixth-round pick.

That was then. This is Monday Night Football, with high stakes. Both teams enter with 9-1 records. The Chiefs own the top mark in the AFC. The Rams are tied in the loss column with the Saints. That makes Peters — and Chiefs wide receiver Sammy Watkins, who played for the Rams last season— valuable for their information on the opponent as well as their skills.

“He’s seen a lot of our stuff and knows what we do,” Chiefs coach Andy Reid said of Peters.

Some of Peters’ biggest moments have come when emotions are running high, games in his Oakland hometown for instance. This would seem to be one of those occasions.

“I don’t think he’ll need any extra words to be ready to go,” McVay said. “I know he’ll be excited.”

Blair Kerkhoff

Blair Kerkhoff covers the Kansas City Chiefs and Royals and college sports for The Star.