Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes apologizes to Bills QB Josh Allen, who says 'it's a game of emotion'
Josh Allen received a personal call from Patrick Mahomes. The Kansas City Chiefs quarterback wanted to personally apologize to Allen for his postgame comments Sunday.
“He reached out to me,” Allen told reporters Wednesday. “I’m just like, ‘It’s football; it’s a game of emotion.’ I know he didn’t mean anything by it. I know the cameras kind of caught the last few seconds of what we were talking about. He’s an ultimate competitor. He wants to win. That’s why he is who he is.”
In addition to the apologies Mahomes has publicly offered, he wanted to directly speak to the Buffalo Bills quarterback for his remarks when they shook hands after the Bills' 20-17 win over the Chiefs.
“Wildest f***ing call I’ve ever seen," Mahomes was caught on camera telling Allen. "Offensive offsides on that play, man? F***ing terrible.”
Mahomes was referring, of course, to the offsides penalty called on receiver Kadarius Toney that wiped out a lateral, go-ahead, 49-yard touchdown in the final minutes.
In the days since, Mahomes said he was sorry during his weekly radio show Monday.
"Obviously you don't want to react that way; I mean, I care, man," Mahomes said in an interview with 610 Sports Radio on Monday. "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
" ... More than anything, I regretted the way I acted toward Josh [Allen] after the game, because he had nothing to do with it."
Chiefs head coach Andy Reid explained that Toney didn't check with the officials to make sure he wasn't offsides, teammates have defended Toney, and Mahomes apologized again Wednesday for his comments.
"I try to act in a way that I'm a good role model, because I looked up to guys on this stage," Mahomes told the media Wednesday. "Obviously, I care. My emotions were shown on the football field, which they've been shown in good ways, and obviously, that wasn't a good way.
He later added: "I definitely had emotion talking with I was talking to Josh [Allen] at midfield. He had nothing to do with it. [I have] to show better sportsmanship."
Although the Chiefs fell to 8-5 with the loss, which ties them with the Jacksonville Jaguars and Cleveland Browns, they own the head-to-head with the Jaguars and have a better conference record than the Browns.
The Bills, however, are stuck in very crowded picture to make the AFC playoffs as they are one of six teams with a 7-6 record.
