Given time to reflect on his sideline outburst at the officials on Sunday and his postgame interaction with Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen, Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes expressed regret over his actions.
Mahomes was visibly upset after an offside call on Chiefs receiver Kadarius Toney negated what would have been the go-ahead touchdown with less than two minutes remaining.
Toney had taken a cross-field lateral from Travis Kelce, who had caught a pass from Mahomes, and completed what would have been a 49-yard touchdown.
After the penalty, Mahomes threw incomplete on three consecutive plays, allowing the Bills to run out the clock and secure a 20-17 victory.
Frustrated, Mahomes yelled at the officials as the Bills ran down the clock after regaining possession.
“Obviously you don’t want to react that way; I mean, I care, man. I love it — I love this game, and I love my teammates.
I want to go out there and put everything on the line to win, but obviously you can’t do that, can’t be that way toward officials or really anybody in life,” Mahomes said Monday in an interview with 610 Sports Radio in Kansas City.
He added that “more than anything, I regretted the way I acted toward Josh [Allen] after the game, because he had nothing to do with it.”
A WROC-TV camera caught Mahomes telling Allen: “Wildest f—ing call I’ve ever seen. Offensive offsides on that play, man. F—ing terrible.”
Patrick Mahomes (Credits: NFL)
Reflecting on this, Mahomes said, “I was still hot and emotional, but you can’t do that. It’s not a great example for kids watching the game. I was more upset about that than me on the sidelines.”
On Sunday, Mahomes said he asked three different officials about the call and never received a response. After the game, he remarked, “Another game, we’re talking about the refs. It’s not what we want for the NFL.”
On Monday, however, Mahomes acknowledged that the call was correct.
“Obviously I’ve seen it now, and if he didn’t check and they weren’t good, it is a foul. It is something you rarely see called in the NFL. But it was a foul; it’s part of playing the game, man. You learn from it, it’s part of being a person, you learn from your mistakes and try to be better next time,” he said.
Earlier on Monday, Chiefs coach Andy Reid noted that Toney did not check with the sideline official to ensure he was lined up correctly.
Reid advised, “Just make sure you check, make sure you check with the guy on the side just to see if you’re aligned. … He was 2 inches away from, or an inch from, being legal.”
Mahomes might face a fine from the NFL for his actions and comments. He said Monday that he would accept any punishment that comes his way.
“You have to accept the consequences of your actions, and that’s something that I’ve always stood by. I obviously didn’t act in the way that I usually act, and if there’s consequences that come from that, I obviously accept those,” he said.
