Bengals LB on Joseph Ossai outburst: ‘That doesn’t define me’
Germaine Pratt went viral Sunday night following the Bengals' 23-20 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC Championship Game, and not in a good way.
The Cincinnati linebacker told reporters on Monday that his postgame outburst in which he yelled “Why would you touch the f---ing quarterback?” at teammate Joseph Ossai as they headed to the locker room—a video that has more than nine million views on Twitter—was a regretful mistake made in the aftermath of disappointment.
“I would say I was wrong,” Pratt said, via ESPN. “As a man, you can look yourself in the mirror and say, 'I was wrong.' I wasn't a great teammate in that moment. That doesn't define me as a man."
Pratt’s misguided anger at Ossai stemmed from an unnecessary roughness penalty Ossai drew after hitting Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes while he was out of bounds, which gave the Chiefs an additional 15 yards and set them up for the eventual winning field goal.
"It's a reaction that anybody has that's a competitor," Pratt continued. "You know what was at stake in that moment. I love this game, no doubt about it. They talk about my character as a teammate. Some people never played this game. They don't know how much effort guys put in the game. The guy made a mistake. It's over and done with."
The 22-year-old Ossai took full responsibility for the play, admitting his gaffe to reporters after the game. Pratt disclosed on Monday that he talked to every Bengals player following the incident, including Ossai.
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