Both coaches said there was nothing to a seemingly chilly interaction after their midfield handshake following the Chiefs' victory. Del Rio appeared to throw some shade at Reid after a congratulatory pat on the shoulder. The moment followed a brief conversation and handshake.
"Nothing personal between us," Del Rio tweeted at a Pro Football Talk post on the incident. "Andy is a good man and good coach. They earned a hard fought victory last night. On to next ... go Raiders"
Asked about Del Rio at a news conference Friday, Reid said there was no bad blood, and he was not upset about the Raidershead coach calling Kansas City's offense "gimmicky."
"Not at all," he said. "Jack and I are actually good friends, and I know people don't like to hear that cause it's the Raiders, but not at all. I know the picture -- when we were leaving -- I just patted him on the shoulder after we shook hands. There was nothing there, no."
He added: "I don't worry about (people calling our offense gimmicky). I just worry about the score of the game. Anybody can say anything that they want to say. I'm good as long as we're taking care of business there."
While this is likely just the camera catching the pair at a weird point in the conversation, the NFL could use some good old fashioned coaching hate down the stretch. It's actually amazing there isn't more of it now. The NFL is full of relentlessly competitive former athletes who sleep in a facility all week with the hope of predicting the largely unpredictable. It's one of the most high-pressure gigs in modern sports.
