Patrick Mahomes Says Justin Tucker's Pregame Antics Were Attempt To Get Under Skin

Patrick Mahomes believes Justin Tucker being all up in his space before the AFC Championship Game was no accident ... claiming the Ravens kicker's pregame run-in was an attempt to get under the Chiefs' skin.

The incident was all the talk before kickoff on Sunday ... with Mahomes and Travis Kelce getting into it with the veteran NFL kicker over his spot on the field while both sides were trying to warm up for the big playoff game.

Tucker downplayed the incident on Monday ... calling the whole thing "silly," but Mahomes clearly doesn't see it that way -- accusing the All-Pro specialist of going out of his way to play some mind games on the defending Super Bowl champions.

"He does that little stuff, I think to try to get under our skin," Mahomes said Tuesday on The Drive on Audacy's 610 Sports Radio. "I asked him to move his stuff. He got up and moved it, I think, two inches but didn’t move it out of the way. I was gonna let it slide, but Travis got in and moved it for me. And after that, I wasn’t gonna let him put it back down."

Mahomes said he's only had similar issues three times in his NFL career ... and each happened to be before games against the Ravens.

"I have a lot of respect for him as a player, one of the best kickers of all time, probably the best kicker of all time," he added. "But at the same time, you’ve got to have respect for each team, and we all share the field, and we try to do that in a respectful way."