Peters has no problem paying fine for pick-six celebration
Cornerback draws $13,000 penalty. Donald is fined $20,000 for late hit.
It cost him more than $13,000, but Marcus Peters said it was worth it.
Aaron Donald probably didn’t like his bill for about $20,000, but with a $131-million extension he can afford it.
Both Rams players were fined Friday for actions during the season-opening victory over the Oakland Raiders.
Peters was fined for his celebration, which featured him grabbing his crotch, after he intercepted a pass and returned it for a touchdown.
Donald was fined for a late hit on Raiders quarterback Derek Carr.
Peters, an Oakland native, provided an exclamation point to the 33-13 victory at Oakland-Alameda Coliseum when he picked off a Carr pass and ran 50 yards to the end zone. He leaped into the air and grabbed his crotch before falling to the turf.
“Lot of money,” Peters said Friday of the fine, “and it was worth it.”
After the game, Peters said he went “BeastMode” for his celebration as an homage to Raiders running back Marshawn Lynch, who like Peters grew up in Oakland and had been fined for similar celebrations.
Peters said Friday that Lynch was his cousin and that the celebration was “paying respect” and a symbol of “loving the game.” He also said that it might have been the last time to celebrate in Oakland because the Raiders are scheduled to move to Las Vegas in 2020.
“No better way to go out in Oakland,” he said. “It was something well-deserved for the hometown.”
Rams coach Sean McVay supported Peters.
“He’s got a close relationship with Marshawn — this was something that he had discussed with him before, if he was going to be able to make a play like that,” McVay said. “So, I think it was a good way for those guys to kind of have an inside joke, laughing about it.
“I think it was all in fun and lighthearted. That was kind of how we looked at it and how I look at it.”
McVay said he was not concerned about players straying outside the bounds of his expectations.
“If it’s something that truly hurts our football team with regards to the behavior and decisions we’re making in a game that’s a totally different deal,” he said. “There’s a way of kind of balancing, when is it taking it too far, and we certainly don’t think that was something that was taken too far.”
Donald did not appear to be targeting Carr in an overly aggressive manner when he hit him Monday night. But he acknowledged that it was a low hit.
“Not much you can do when you’re falling,” he told reporters after the game. “But it is what it is.”
On Thursday, defensive coordinator Wade Phillips said Donald recorded a sack, “but it was too low.”
Etc.
Receiver Mike Thomas had surgery for a groin issue, McVay said. Thomas is expected to be sidelined a few weeks . ... Linebacker Mark Barron (Achilles) did not participate in practice and is doubtful for Sunday’s game against Arizona. Ramik Wilson is expected to start again in his place.