Bengals defensive end Joseph Ossai was emotional in the locker room after losing the AFC Championship Game, blaming himself for a 15-yard penalty for shoving Patrick Mahomes that put the Chiefs into range for their game-winning field goal.
“I’ve just got to learn from experience,” Ossai said. “I’ve got to know not to get close to that quarterback when he’s close to that sideline if there’s anything that could possibly cause a penalty. In a situation like that I’ve got to be better.”
Ossai said he was hoping he could catch Mahomes before he got out of bounds to keep the clock running and just wasn’t able to stop in time not to touch Mahomes once Mahomes stepped out.
“I was just in full chase mode and I was trying to push him to maybe get him go backwards, get that clock running. I haven’t seen it yet, I don’t know how far out of bounds we were,” Ossai said.
Ossai said his teammates have been supportive.
“I’ve got to be better, but they’ve been very supportive,” Ossai said. “It’s extremely hard.”
Ossai also said his knee buckled on the play and he’s scheduled for an MRI on Monday.