Kansas City Chiefs S Justin Reid wasn’t a member of the team for last year’s AFC title game, but the free-agent addition is now at the center of the budding rivalry with the Cincinnati Bengals.
Speaking to Fox 4 Kansas City’s PJ Green in the locker room on Wednesday, Reid couldn’t recall the name of Bengals TE Hayden Hurst. He’d just played the Rams where he was tasked with TE Tyler Higbee, but a reporter suggested he was thinking of Bengals WR Tee Higgins. Reid just ran with it, but specifically mentioned No. 88, which is Hurst.
“He’s more of a finesse type of guy, not the best blocker,” Reid says with a look of confidence. “I’m going to lock him down.”
Reid later clarified on Twitter he was speaking about Hurst, but that it didn’t change anything that he said. The Bengals took exception to his comments with star WR Ja’Marr Chase calling Reid out on Twitter.
“Let’s put some money on it big time,” Chase wrote.
“Y’all welcome for the extra motivation,” Reid responded. “Ima see you Sunday champ.”
Chase then resorted to some name-calling.
Noted ✍🏾 pic.twitter.com/7ytOA44uWu
— Justin Reid (@JustinqReid) November 30, 2022
Bengals players have since responded to media members, including the actual subject of Reid’s comments, Hayden Hurst.
“You can pick anyone in this locker room, but I feel like I’m the last person you wanna talk shit about because I have a long memory,” Hurst said.
Bengals TE Hayden Hurst had a slight chuckle but said Kansas City S Justin Reid was the first person to talk smack to him pre-game.
Hurst: “I feel like I’m the last person you wanna talk s—- about.” pic.twitter.com/1CPeeXuuKN
— Ben Baby (@Ben_Baby) December 1, 2022
His teammate on the defensive side of the ball, Jessie Bates, had some thoughts on Reid’s inability to recall Hurst’s name.
“I know if you’re going to talk shit, you better know your personnel,” Bates said.
Emotions are high for plenty of Chiefs players who participated in both of last year’s losses to Cincinnati, but somehow it’s a player who had no part in those tightly-contested games fueling this AFC rivalry. One thing is for certain, if Reid’s going to talk the talk ahead of this game, he’s going to have to prove that he can walk the walk during it.
