Don’t poke the bear — or in this case, Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid.
During his midweek press conference ahead of the AFC Championship, a media member asked Big Red a bit of a loaded question and the long-time coach’s no-nonsense response was just classic Andy Reid. Here was the exchange:
Reporter: “There are people in Cincinnati who feel like they’ve got something, there’s something that they have maybe mentally that their players have more confidence against you guys — what do you say to that?”
Reid: “Well listen, they probably should, they won three games so I’m sure that’s how they feel. That’s okay. We’re still going to play the game, so.”
Let’s just say there was no follow-up question on confidence after that reply.
Andy Reid, Chiefs Are Setting the Tone vs Bengals
Last time Kansas City played the Cincinnati Bengals, there was plenty of bulletin board material provided by Chiefs safety Justin Reid — a newcomer in KC.
Andy Reid quickly shut that down ahead of the game, telling the veteran defender and the masses that “I’m not real big on that” type of pregame trash talk. He also added that Justin Reid is “aware of [that] now” at the time. Unfortunately, the damage was already done and Cincy came out more motivated than ever.
Compared to others, this Bengals team seems to really thrive off being viewed as the “underdog.” Just last week, running back Joe Mixon used the neutral site AFC championship game as a way to pump up his teammates heading into Buffalo, and you can bet they’re looking for some added motivation in this one.
This time though, KC is setting the tone and they aren’t giving Cincinnati anything to talk about.
Andy Reid’s short and gruff reply was just the beginning. “I’d just tell you they’re a really good football team,” the Chiefs HC added later on. “They don’t have a lot of weaknesses on either side of the ball or special teams so, that part hasn’t changed from the first time we’ve played them.”
Quarterback Patrick Mahomes II followed up on his head coach in praising the Bengals defense.
“They’re coached well,” he voiced. “Their defensive coordinator Coach [Lou] Anarumo has done a great job of changing up the gameplan… that’s what a lot of great defensive coordinators do, they’re able to coach their team up and do a lot of stuff but still be sound in [their plan]. I think that’s what they do well and then, they have great players. At the end of the day, they have great players that are extremely coachable and go out there and do their jobs to the best of their ability.”
Mahomes also noted that he’s not sure how the three-game losing streak could have a negative effect on their mentality going in. “If you [lose] you won’t relax, you’ll focus in even more on the details,” he explained. “We’ll be ready to go and I’ll be ready to go.”
Justin Reid Kills Bengals With Kindness After ‘Burrowhead’
Even safety Justin Reid was onboard with his head coach’s silent memo to the locker room of absolutely no pregame chatter. The Bengals attempted to get a rise out of KC with their “Burrowhead” comments, but the video didn’t seem to faze the Chiefs — at least not publicly.
“I think we all saw it,” Justin Reid told reporters with a smile, “those guys are having fun since they won the game but we’re going to just let our play on the field speak for us.”
It was a total 180 from the regular season quotes that got the safety in trouble with fans and his coaching staff.
Linebacker Nick Bolton had nothing but respect for Joe Burrow later in the joint media availability too, agreeing that the Bengals quarterback is one of the best in the league at handling pressure. When asked if he’s tougher to rattle than any other NFL QB, Bolton simply replied: “Outside of our quarterback, yes sir.”
They may not be stating the words to reporters, but this Kansas City team is motivated like heck to win this game — you can see it on their faces. Whether that’s Andy Reid’s short response or Justin Reid’s smirk about “Burrowhead,” the bulletin board material is only hanging in one locker room ahead of this grudge match.
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Chiefs’ Andy Reid Had Gruff Response for Bengals’ 3-Game Win Streak