Patrick Mahomes Knows He Didn't Set a Good Example in Postgame Outburst

Patrick Mahomes has cooled down since his fiery postgame reaction and press conference following the Kansas City Chiefs' 20-17 loss to the Buffalo Bills on Sunday.

A day later, Mahomes conducted an interview with 610 Sports in Kansas City and walked back a number of his statements postgame.

Primarily, though, Mahomes said he regrets an outburst to Bills quarterback Josh Allen, which NFL cameras caught. As the two players met on the field, Mahomes could be heard telling Allen that a controversial call by the officials was "f***ing terrible" and "the wildest f***ing call I've ever seen" as Allen patted his chest.

On his Monday radio appearance, Mahomes corrected himself.

"Obviously, you don't ever want to react that way," Mahomes told 610 Sports. "I care, man. I love this game, I love my teammates. I want to go out there and put everything on the line to win. But obviously, can't do that, can't be that way toward officials or really anybody in life, so I probably regret acting like that. But, more than anything I regretted how I acted toward Josh after the game, because he had nothing to do with it."

The call in question was an offensive offsides against Kadarius Toney. Facing a second-and-10 late in the fourth quarter as the Chiefs tried to drive into field-goal range, Mahomes dropped back and found Travis Kelce for a 25-yard completion. Kelce then appeared to tack on an extra 24 yards with a lateral pass to Toney, who sprinted into the end zone for what would have been a go-ahead touchdown.

Instead, officials whistled Toney for lining up offsides, and after three straight incompletions by Mahomes, the game was effectively over.

Mahomes also walked back his comments about the call itself in his radio hit.

"I've seen it now, and if he didn't check and they weren't good, it is a foul," Mahomes said. "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."

Mahomes added that he knows he has an enormous influence on young people watching.

"I was still hot and emotional, but you can't do that," Mahomes said. "It's not a great example for kids watching the game. I was more upset about that than me on the sidelines."

Chiefs head coach Andy Reid expressed frustration postgame that the officials didn't warn Toney that he was offsides and called it "a bit embarrassing" for the NFL to have a play like that called back in that moment. But referee Carl Cheffers told reporters that officials are under no obligation to alert a player who is lined up offsides, "especially if they are lined up so far offsides where they're actually blocking our view of the ball."

"We would give them some sort of warning if it was anywhere close, but this particular one is beyond warning," Cheffers said Sunday.

Mahomes added that he knows he might be subject to fines for his comments.

"You have to accept the consequences of your actions, and that's something that I've always stood by," Mahomes said. "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."

The Chiefs fell to 8-5 with the loss, which was their second in a row and fourth in six games. They face the New England Patriots (3-10) on Sunday.