CINCINNATI — The Bengals surprised a lot of people when they signed left tackle Orlando Brown Jr. to a four-year contract in March.
The former Chiefs star will now protect Joe Burrow’s blindside, after keeping Patrick Mahomes upright for the past two seasons in Kansas City.
“Yeah, it’s tough,” Mahomes said. “I still talk to Orlando. We had a friendship off the field just as much as on the field. You understand how great of a player he is. He makes Cincinnati an even better football team so that stinks for us but at the same time I’m happy for him that he got to a good place where he was able to get a good contract that he deserved and everything like that.
“We’ll still have that friendship, but he’s a competitor like me, so we’re going to be wanting to be able to brag about who wins that football game.”
The Bengals and the Chiefs have quickly developed one of the NFL’s best rivalries after meeting four times in the past two seasons. They’ve also played each other in back-to-back AFC Championship Games.
The two will meet again on New Year’s Eve, as the Chiefs host the Bengals in what could be another AFC Title Game preview.
