Romeo Crennel discusses Eric Winston, Matt Cassel and perception of Chiefs fan cheers

After Matt Cassel went down during Kansas City's 9-6 loss against the Baltimore Ravens, a large part of the crowd began to cheer because of the quarterback's injury. That angered tackle Eric Winston, who made comments ripping the fanbase following the game by calling it 'sickening.'

Cassel has been mediocre through the 2012 season as the Chiefs have floundered to a 1-4 record, and the fans had even gone so far as to have a sign fly over the stadium telling the team to bench their starting QB. During his press conference on Monday, Chiefs head coach Romeo Crennel said that he wasn't paying attention to the crowd or to Winston's comments following Cassel's injury. He was too busy focusing on the task at hand during the game.

From the Chiefs PR department, here are the quotes from Crennel regarding Winston and the cheering after Cassel's injury:

Q: What did you think of Eric Winston's comments?

CRENNEL: "I didn't hear all of his comments. I was informed that he made some comments. If you would tell me what you heard, then I can talk about..."

Q: Did you personally hear fans cheer when Matt was hurt?

CRENNEL: "When one of my players gets hurt, I kind of focus on the player. I don't know if there was cheering or not. I'm just looking at the player. I'm trying to get the second quarterback ready to go just so that he can get snaps. I'm trying to get the attention of [Ryan] Lilja so that he can come over. Then when Matt came off the field, I went over and told him, ‘Hang tough.' I didn't realize what the fans were doing, so now Eric Winston made a comment about the fans cheering or whatever. I don't know. I wasn't tuned in to what the fans were doing at that time. So, now tell me exactly what you heard."

Q: That there were 70,000 fans cheering when Matt Cassel got hurt.

CRENNEL: "I don't think that he meant 70,000. If there were boos or cheering that Cassel got hurt, I know that 70,000 did not do it, even though I'm not tuned into it. I know 70,000 didn't cheer for him being hurt. There might have been some cheering for him being hurt. This season has been a disappointing season with the way it's gone. I doubt very seriously that 70,000 cheered. My experience is that the fans here in Kansas City are good fans. Are they frustrated? Yes, they are. I'm frustrated with the way it's gone. But my players, any one of them that gets hurt, I'm concerned about that player being hurt and his well-being. Eric has been in this league a little while, he's seen some things and he has some pride. He has some strong feelings for his teammates, whether it's Matt Cassel or [Anthony] Toribio. If they are hurt, he doesn't want anybody to do anything negative as a result of that injury. I think he'll stand up for any teammate on this as it relates to that. He's seen a lot, so like I said, I didn't hear what he said, but I think he'll stand by his statement."