Andy Reid all but told the Raiders to get ready for the pain.
Kansas City Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes, head coach Andy Reid / Jamie Squire/GettyImages
Only at NFL training camp will you get drama stemming from a Muppet. And no, there are no typos in that phrase.
With the Las Vegas Raiders reporting to camp, there was a Kermit the Frog puppet dressed as rival Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes. Unable to help themselves, Raiders players took the unintentional bait and began trolling their division rival, even making some less-than-kind remarks about Mahomes in the process as well.
The immediate reaction from everyone after the video began to make its way around social media was that this would only end one way for the Raiders: poorly. And on Friday, Chiefs head coach Andy Reid all but confirmed that his team is going to lay a beatdown on Vegas of epic proportions in response to the trolling via Kermit.
Andy Reid essentially sends a warning to Raiders over trolling Patrick Mahomes
Jonathan Jones of CBS Sports was at Chiefs training camp on Friday and asked Reid about the incident and the Raiders fanning the flames of the rivalry. And in response, Reid didn’t outright say the Silver and Black were in trouble — but it also wasn’t hard to read betweent he lines at all:
“We don’t spend a lot of time here with puppets. We try to do our work, try to get better. That’s the important thing.”
All business at Chiefs camp. And in case you thought this wasn’t a professional dodge of the question and a warning to the Raiders, former Kansas City offensive lineman Mitchell Schwartz, who spent several seasons under Reid, gave everyone the translation they needed about the head coach’s quote.
Even without Schwartz’s translation and even without Reid’s comments at all, though, we could’ve figured as much. The Raiders are poking a bear in Mahomes that has already mauled them routinely throughout his career.
In 12 careers games against Vegas in the AFC West rivalry, Mahomes has led the Chiefs to a 10-2 record. He also has averaged a cool 297.8 yards per game with a completion rate over 66% and with 30 touchdowns to only four interceptions in those games. Even by his own lofty standards, that’s pure, unadulterated dominance against a division rival.
Which is why it was so senseless and silly for the Raiders to go after Mahomes and the Chiefs unprovoked with the Kermit puppet. Yes, it’s dumb and silly — no one is questioning that playing with puppets on an NFL practice field hits both of those benchmarks. However, this isn’t a team that has done anything of late that’s worthy of peacocking over, especially at the expense of the back-to-back Super Bowl champions.
The Chiefs and Raiders play for the first time in the 2024 season in Week 8 on Sunday, Oct. 27. Go ahead and get your popcorn (and mayber your puppets) ready for that one.