Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes stopped offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy before leaving the field for halftime Sunday. Mahomes had an animated conversation with Bieniemy before head coach Andy Reid stepped in between them as they walked to the locker room.
It was obvious Mahomes was displeased with the final play call of the half.
With 20 seconds remaining in the second quarter, and the Chiefs facing a second-and-20 at their own 36, Jerick McKinnon ran for 6 yards to run out the clock.
“Yeah, I think after seeing the video, I see why people thought it’s a bigger deal than it actually was,” Mahomes said on his weekly show on 610 Sports Radio on Monday. “Obviously, as an offensive player, and someone that wants to score every single time your on the field, I wanted to take another chance and try to get it down the field and get out of bounds or something like that and try to give us a chance to either throw a Hail Mary or kick a field goal. But they had kind of made the decision -- not just coach Bieniemy; I think it was coach Reid and the whole offensive staff -- that we were in a good spot. We had the lead, and we could just kind of get to the half and kind of refocus and had the ball coming out of the half, and we didn’t want to make a big mistake there at the half. That’s their jobs. I’ve got to be better knowing when that is the right decision, but at the same time, I always want to score. I think that’s kind of who I am.”
After the game, Reid downplayed the conversation. He disagreed that Mahomes and Bieniemy had a “confrontation,” but it was obvious Mahomes wasn’t happy.
Mahomes described it as his competitive nature.
“That’s who we are. That’s what makes our culture so great is that all the people on this staff -- the players, the coaches, and the locker room together, we all want to win,” Mahomes said. “We want to go out there and compete and win and that competitive nature is what drives us to be great. Sometimes there is a little disagreement here or there, but we know that we’re trying to do whatever we can to win at the end of the day. I think if that’s not the case, it becomes something different. But that is the case, and we’ve been together for a long time and have won a lot of football games together.”
Mahomes said there was no need for a conversation with Bieniemy about the testy exchange. They both moved on as soon as they reached the locker room.
“It kind of goes by. Right when we got to the locker room and we just started talking, it was like it never even happened,” Mahomes said. “We both understand that we’re both trying to do whatever we can to win the game. At the end of the day, that’s all it is. It’s not like these things are lingering around and stuff like that. I’ll have disagreements with other people as well. It’s not like it’s just something with EB. It’s just something you want to win. When you have a lot of people that care and that want to win, there will be little disagreements but at the same time, you’ll come together and find a way to win at the end of the day.”
Mahomes said it is “more of a big deal” to fans and media than it was to anyone involved.
The Chiefs lost to the Colts 20-17 and will try to rebound this week against the Buccaneers on Sunday Night Football.