Patrick Mahomes has admitted he regrets his on-field breakdown after Kadarius Toney's go-head touchdown was called offside as the Kansas City Chiefs lost to the Buffalo Bills on Sunday.
A screaming Mahomes had to be restrained as he tried to confront the officials and threw his helmet into the ground in the dramatic moments at the end of the game at Arrowhead Stadium.
In conversation with 610 Sport, Mahomes said, “I looked a little bit, but you try to stay away from it a little bit. It's clear that you never want to react that way.
“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 of course that's not possible, I can't be like that towards officials or anyone else in life, so I probably regret behaving like that. But most of all, I regretted the way I behaved towards Josh after the match, because he had nothing to do with it.
'It was a tough defeat, but the only thing you can do in this competition is keep going. I watched the film to learn from our mistakes in the game. Keep moving forward in this competition if you want to get back on track.
'It's part of the game, it's part of the game. You try to learn from it, to become better as a person and to be better as a player. Something I will learn from in my career and try to be better when the situation arises.”
Asked if he was surprised by how angry he got, Mahomes said, “No, not really, it was a big play in the game and it was obviously negated because of a foul. I didn't have a good explanation for it, obviously I don't see the view from the sidelines.
“I've seen it again now and if he didn't check and it wasn't right… then it's a foul, it's just something you rarely see in the NFL. But it was a foul. Part of playing the game, part of being human: you learn from your mistakes and try to be better next time.”
He was asked if things were expected to go well: “To be honest, I don't know. I know that when you talk about referees and say things to referees, it's usually not a good thing. Their work is hard, they also try to make their heir as good as possible.
'What happens, happens. You have to accept the consequences of your actions, that's something I've always stood for. “I didn't act like I normally do and if there are consequences, I have to accept them.”
As for Toney not checking to see if he was offside, Mahomes said, “In most cases, they usually just point at the ref and the ref tells them they're good or they're not. I haven't talked to him yet, I don't know if he's checked.
“It happens man, it's the NFL. You have to move on.'
The Chiefs are back in action on Sunday in New England against the Patriots. After Sunday's loss, the team is 8-5 for the season.
“All we can do is be better this week,” Mahomes said. “I'm excited about the challenge of it.”