Chiefs’ Andy Reid defends Eric Bieniemy, calls rumblings ‘fabricated’

On Tuesday, at the NFL’s Scouting Combine in Indianapolis, Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid spoke publicly for the first time since the day after the team’s 27-24 overtime loss to the Cincinnati Bengals.

Between that day — January 31 — and this week, rumors and rumblings had surfaced about offensive coordinator Eric Bienimey before the club ultimately brought him back. The 2022 season will mark Bieniemy’s fifth season as offensive coordinator and 10th season with the club. It is worth noting that the team also brought back Matt Nagy as quarterbacks coach during that period.

With a desire to put any question regarding Bieniemy’s standing with the Chiefs to rest ahead of the Combine — often considered the unofficial start of the NFL offseason — Reid was direct in his messaging during his opening statement.

“This whole thing with Eric Bieniemy that’s been written has gotten kind of fabricated,” said Reid. “We were on vacation and over the two weeks, I came back, and all of a sudden, it was that I didn’t like Eric and Eric didn’t like me and Pat Mahomes and everybody else. That’s not the case. We all get along good, and I’m glad he’s back with us and rolling. I thought he’d potentially get a head coaching job, which I would have been happy with, too, but that’s not how it worked out.

“Anyway, I just wanted to put that to rest. The rest of the time is yours.”