A veteran perspective was needed in the wake of Isaiah Likely’s salty rant to reporters after losing to the Chiefs.
Isaiah Likely has a good reason to believe the Baltimore Ravens will get better as the season goes on. The young tight just enjoyed a sensational breakout performance himself to start the year, and there’s a reason that fantasy football players everywhere scrambled to get him (or panicked if they had Mark Andrews on their roster). That’s because they also believe even he will get better with more reps and chemistry with Lamar Jackson.
On Thursday, the Ravens fell to the Kansas City Chiefs in the season-opening game for a new year in the NFL and there was plenty of controversy and frustration throughout the game on both sides. Poor officiating could be found in all four quarters—missing some key calls (like a late hit on Patrick Mahomes out of bounds) and making others that didn’t or shouldn’t exist (leave Ronnie Stanley alone).
After the game, Likely and the rest of the Ravens were understandably frustrated. They were behind for two scores for much of the game and failed in the final attempts to come back despite having some clear opportunities to do so. The game film will provide a lot of lessons going forward for both sides.
After the game, however, Likely, like many Ravens players, had some grievances to share with reporters and some challenges for the Chiefs.
“This is probably the worst game we’re gonna play all year, so if this is their best that they got, then good luck in the postseason.”
Following the game, Chiefs safety Justin Reid, one of the team’s veteran leaders on defense, spoke with Kay Adams on Up & Adams for some post-game perspective. She played Likely’s comments and Reid had an ideal response.
“Well, it’s the first game of the season. I hope it’s the worst game that anyone plays because if you’re peaking right now, that’s bad news come playoff time. So he had a good game, so credit to him, but there are ways we’re gonna improve,” said Reid.
“We’re gonna get Hollywood Brown back here in a couple of weeks,” he continued. “We’re gonna continue to tighten on the defensive side of the ball. That Patrick Mahomes-Xavier Worthy connection is just gonna get more special as we keep going. Not to mention that after all the star power that happened, Travis Kelce didn’t even have to be Travis Kelce the whole game. He had that one special play to help Pat get that all-time passing leader record, but he’s gonna show up in this season too.
“So I don’t see the Kansas City Chiefs being the same team we were yesterday. I see us getting better as we keep going.”
Reid is right. He didn’t even mention the return of pass rusher Charles Omenihu at midseason or the fact that the Chiefs have one of the league’s youngest rosters (again), which means a presumed higher ceiling for so many players on the roster. Perhaps most important, Reid should have mentioned that the Chiefs have won the last two Super Bowls which is why they don’t sound as shaken as Likely after suffering a frustrating loss.
So yes, Likely will get better, but he’ll also likely get better at answering questions in the face of emotion. Reid has that part down, too, and modeled it well.
