Getty Kansas City Chiefs defensive leader Chris Jones had a different take on Patrick Mahomes' viral moments with Josh Allen and the referees vs. the Buffalo Bills.
It’s been an apology tour for Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs ever since the conclusion of the Week 14 loss to the Buffalo Bills, but Chris Jones had a different take on his quarterback’s viral criticism of the NFL referees.
“[That’s] just the drive of Patrick, man,” Jones told reporters on December 13. “We’re all competitors. We all feel that type of way.”
“As much as we try to be professional and not show our emotions, at moments and times, sometimes emotions get high,” he went on, adding that the locker room “don’t look at Patrick as nothing but a hell of a leader.”
Jones finished his answer by addressing Mahomes more directly. “Keep that fire up,” he said proudly. “Maybe bring it to this game throughout this week. Keep it up. We love it. We feed off of that. Energy is contagious.”
There you have it, the Chiefs locker room had zero issue with their quarterback’s actions last weekend.
Chiefs’ Patrick Mahomes Says He & Bills QB Josh Allen Are ‘All Good’
Just before Jones spoke on Wednesday of Week 15, Mahomes took the podium. As you’d expect, his drama involving Bills QB Josh Allen and the referees came up pretty quickly in the Q&A.
“Definitely emotion talking when I was talking to Josh [Allen] at midfield,” the Chiefs signal-caller replied. “To lose the football game, a tough football game in a tough way [was hard], but I let it go on too long because like I said, [Allen] had nothing to do with it.”
Mahomes acknowledged that he’d like to “show better sportsmanship” in the future.
Later, the KC superstar also noted that he talks to Allen “a lot” and he and his friendly rival are “all good.” Having said that, Mahomes expressed that he’d like to keep his conversations with the Bills quarterback private.
For now, it appears everyone has moved on as the Chiefs set their sights on rebounding with a win over the New England Patriots in Week 15.
Chris Jones Says 3 Recent Losses Are ‘Beneficial’ for Chiefs
The Chiefs haven’t experienced losing all that much since Mahomes was drafted and Week 14 was the first time the reigning MVP has lost two straight games. That has led to DEFCON 1 around Kansas City, but Jones sees things differently yet again.
“It’s hard to say but I think these games are beneficial for us as a team,” the superstar defender stated on Wednesday. “To go through this adversity [before the playoffs].”
“We got a young group,” Jones explained. “Got a lot of young guys and if they [were] on the team last year, they kind of didn’t have to go through this adversity that we’re going through now.”
He added that he’s always said that “adversity builds character,” and that’s what must happen for this current Chiefs roster.
“Tough times make tough people,” Jones concluded. “So, we’re in a tough situation right now coming off a back-to-back loss… Spirits are good. I think right now sharpening the mind, making sure we upping our game, making sure we’re looking in the mirror at our own game — seeing what we can get better at — and then executing [are all important].”
Kansas City has a favorable schedule the rest of the way, facing a list of quarterbacks nobody would have expected when the season began. Having said that, it’ll still take execution from Patrick Mahomes, Chris Jones and their respective units to turn this thing around. Make no mistake, playoff football has begun.