The AFC Championship Game between the Kansas City Chiefs and Cincinnati Bengals was ultimately decided by a Joseph Ossai penalty. Germaine Pratt then snapped at him. Now the linebacker is apologizing for his reaction.

There were only a few seconds left to play in the AFC Championship Game between the Kansas City Chiefs and Cincinnati Bengals when Patrick Mahomes rushed to the sideline with his injured ankle. Far too late, however, he was shoved by Bengals defender Joseph Ossai – the penalty put the Chiefs within crucial field-goal distance.

After the game, Cincinnati linebacker Germaine Pratt was filmed on his way to the locker room clearly criticising his defensive colleague: “Why would you touch the damn quarterback?!” he shouted in Ossai’s direction.

Pratt apologizes: “Was in the heat of the moment “

At a media roundtable on Monday, the linebacker apologised for his emotional outburst. “It wasn’t right,” the 26-year-old stated. “It was in the heat of the moment. I can definitely look in the mirror after an incident and say, ‘Hey, that was wrong’.

However, the defence ace did not want to let the sometimes harsh criticism stand without comment. “We all know what was at stake. The people who say I’m a bad teammate never played the game themselves. “

Ossai was already taking the blame. “I just have to be smarter,” he said after the game. The 22-year-old was in his first NFL season.