Bengals linebacker Germaine Pratt expressed contrition for his reaction that went viral after the team's AFC Championship Game loss to the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday, Ben Baby of ESPN.com reports.

As Pratt entered the visitors locker room at Arrowhead Stadium, Pratt was spotted by Spectrum News Ohio yelling, "Why would you touch the f---ing quarterback?," referencing defensive end Joseph Ossai's penalty for unnecessary roughness that preceded the game-winning field goal.

On Monday, Pratt said the way he responded was incorrect.

"I was in the moment," Pratt said. "I was wrong. I would say I was wrong. 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."

The penalty set up Harrison Butker's 45-yard field goal with three seconds left, giving Kansas City a 23-20 victory in a rematch of last year's AFC title game. Kansas City's win prevented the Bengals from making a repeat trip to the Super Bowl and ended Cincinnati's three-game winning streak against the Chiefs that started during the 2021 regular season.

"It's a reaction that anybody has that's a competitor," Pratt said. "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."

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