Kansas City Chiefs offensive tackle Wanya Morris has apologized to his teammates for failing to protect Patrick Mahomes in their Black Friday win over the Las Vegas Raiders.
Despite the Chiefs holding on for a dramatic 19-17 victory, Mahomes was sacked a total of five times by the Raiders defense at Arrowhead Stadium – the joint-highest amount he has ever suffered in a single game.
The legendary quarterback – who still set a franchise record in the game – was also sacked five times in last week’s win over the Carolina Panthers, meaning he has now matched that career-high in consecutive weeks.
Before the Panthers victory, he had only ever been sacked more than four times on one occasion as an NFL player; and that came six years ago during his first season as a starter for the Chiefs.
Morris, who is in his second season on the Kansas City roster, struggled to guard Mahomes from Las Vegas defenders in a disastrous performance before Andy Reid opted to replace him with Joe Thuney at left tackle halfway through the fourth quarter.
Prior to his benching, the 24-year-old notably failed to stop K’Lavon Chaisson from breaking through and getting to the Chiefs quarterback, who was eventually sacked by Maxx Crosby after managing to shake Chaisson off.
Patrick Mahomes was sacked a joint career-high five times in the Chiefs’ win over the Raiders
Kansas City offensive tackle Wanya Morris has apologized for failing to protect Mahomes
And in light of his disappointing outing, Morris has issued an apology and vowed to work on his game after being hooked by Reid.
‘I’ve got to be better,’ he admitted. ‘[I’ve] got to be better in certain situations and just overall.
‘Obviously it’s good to get the W, but I’m disappointed in myself. I know I’m better than that, and I can perform better than that. So, I apologize to my teammates. They did a good job lifting me up. But at the end of the day, you’ve got to go out there and do better.’
Reid also opened up on the decision to replace Morris was Thuney, while also bringing on backup lineman Mike Caliendo at left guard, which was made after a discussion with offensive line coach Andy Heck.
‘Wanya was struggling a little bit,’ the Chiefs head coach recalled. ‘I moved Joe over there [and put] Caliendo in at guard. I thought it was the right thing to do at that time.
‘I talked to Andy about it, and he agreed with it. So, we made that move. It just solidified things. Pat took a few hits there, so we were struggling at times.’
Mahomes, meanwhile, admitted he felt vulnerable during their final drive of the game.
‘Whoever’s out there, I trust those guys to go out there and make it happen,’ he said. ‘I’ve seen those guys play, and they’ve played at high levels. The coaches made a move, and I felt the guys went in there and did a good job. I’ve got to trust it.
‘I think there were times I didn’t trust it on that last drive. If I can trust it, maybe I make some of those throws, and we’re not in the situation we were in at the end of the game.’
