Cincinnati Bengals linebacker Germaine Pratt admitted he “wasn’t a great teammate” after video captured him yelling at defensive end Joseph Ossai after the latter’s late-hit penalty led to a last-second loss against the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC championship game.
Ossai was flagged for a personal foul after hitting Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes after he had run out of bounds with 8 seconds left. The penalty tacked 15 yards onto the play and set up a winning 45-yard field goal for Kansas City.
In the video, Pratt appeared to berate Ossai about the play as the two walked to the Bengals locker room. Pratt, 26, responded to the video around midnight Monday by defending himself after it caught fire on social media.
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“Yep ppl will post anything on social media for likes and views,” Pratt wrote in a comment section under the video on Instagram. “I have real feelings sometimes they are raw. If you love something as much as I do sometimes thinks will be said in the heated of the moment. But I know what type of teammate I am. And what type of man I am. Trust me no love lost Im hurt.
“Remember some ppl with hate you, rate you and shake you and try to break you but I will stand tall like always.”
‘I was wrong’
When speaking to reporters in the locker room later that day, Pratt said he was wrong to react so strongly toward Ossai, who was visibly distraught.
“I was emotional. I was in the moment. I was wrong,” Pratt said. “As a man, you can look at yourself in the mirror and say it was wrong. I wasn’t a great teammate in that moment. But that don’t define me as a man.”
Ossai was emotional on the sideline and in the locker room after the game, telling reporters, “I’ve got to learn from experience,” when asked about the penalty.
“I got to know not to get close to the quarterback when he’s close to the sideline if there’s anything that could cause a penalty in a dire situation like that,” Ossai said. “I got to do better.”
