Patrick Mahomes addresses incident with Eric Bieniemy

Sep 11, 2022; Glendale, Arizona, USA; Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes (15) against the Arizona Cardinals at State Farm Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

Patrick Mahomes and Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy had a tense exchange on the field during Sunday’s loss to the Indianapolis Colts, but the star quarterback insists there was not a whole lot to it.

The Chiefs decided to play things safe to close out the first half after they got the ball at their own 46 with 30 seconds left. A holding call pushed them back to the 36 and they had no timeouts, so they called a run play to let the clock expire. Mahomes obviously wanted to be more aggressive, and cameras showed him confronting Bieniemy. Head coach Andy Reid had to step in to calm Mahomes down. You can see the video here.

Mahomes discussed the incident during his weekly show on 610 Sports Radio Monday. He said he understood why people thought the exchange was a big deal after he saw the video, but he chalked it up to him being “someone that wants to score every single time you’re 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,” Mahomes said, via Charean Williams of Pro Football Talk. “But they had kind of made the decision — not just coach Bieniemy. I think it was coach Reid and the whole offensive staff (decided) that we were in a good spot.”

Mahomes said he and Bieniemy considered the argument so minor that neither even felt the need to address it afterward.

“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. … 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 added.

Reid confirmed that he was the one who decided to take a conservative approach at the end of the first half. The Chiefs were losing 14-10 at the time and wound up losing 20-17, so Mahomes may have been justified in wanting to get more points.

One former Chiefs player explained why he was not surprised by the exchange between Mahomes and Bieniemy.