Situation Not Sunny for Bono

A bitter Steve Bono said before Kansas City’s season-ending game at Buffalo he doubted he’d be back next season. Nothing that happened in the dismal 20-9 loss would cause anybody to doubt that.

Coaches, who obviously lost confidence in Bono’s ability to throw, tried to run the ball almost exclusively, even in the fourth quarter after the Bills took the lead.

When Bono did try to throw, he was terrible. He had two interceptions and a fumble and the Chiefs got only field goals despite getting inside the 10-yard line three times.

“I don’t know if I can come back, just because of the negativity that has surrounded me,” Bono told the Kansas City Star. “I need to look out for myself, of course, but I don’t know whether coming back would be healthy for this team.”

Bono, under contract to the Chiefs for next season, stopped short of saying he wanted out.

“I honestly don’t know if that’s a question I can answer right now,” he said. “I need to get away from the situation for a while.”

A backup in San Francisco and Kansas City, the former UCLA quarterback got his first chance as a starter last year after Joe Montana retired. The Chiefs were a franchise-record 13-3, but he threw three interceptions in a playoff loss to the Indianapolis Colts, and most fans never believed in him thereafter.

Meanwhile, Chief Coach Marty Schottenheimer, whose future in Kansas City is also uncertain, underwent arthroscopic knee surgery.

Schottenheimer was injured when he was hit on the sidelines during the third quarter of the Chiefs’ 24-19 loss to Indianapolis on Dec. 15.