In the immediate aftermath of his penalty that helped set the Kansas City Chiefs up for the game-winning field goal in the AFC Championship Game, several Cincinnati Bengals were supportive of defensive end Joseph Ossai. Linebacker Germaine Pratt, though, was not one of them.
Pratt’s rant did not earn him a lot of sympathy.
Kelsey Conway of The Cincinnati Enquirer later asked Pratt — who is a pending free agent — to elaborate on saying it was his last year and asked whether he’d be back with the Bengals. His response was, “that’s up to them.”
Pratt’s frustration is understandable. And while the Bengals who rallied around the distraught Ossai should be commended for doing so, criticizing a player for being frustrated in that circumstance isn’t fair. That said, Pratt is way out of bounds here. While this game was ultimately decided on a late field goal, games never come down to one play. The Bengals made too many mistakes to beat the Chiefs. Ossai’s was one of those mistakes, but not the only one.
And if Cincinnati was on the fence about bringing Pratt back, this probably won’t do him any favors.