By Jeff Howe, Doug Haller and Amos Morale
The Arizona Cardinals fined head coach Jonathan Gannon $100,000 for his altercation with running back Emari Demercado during Sunday’s 22-21 loss to the Tennessee Titans, a league source confirmed Tuesday.
The incident took place early in the fourth quarter. Demercado broke free and sprinted 72 yards untouched to the end zone, initially appearing to score a touchdown that would’ve given the Cardinals a 27-6 lead. But just before crossing the goal line, Demercado let go of the football with his left hand, which negated the score and resulted in a touchback.
After the play, Demercado stood on the sideline with left tackle Paris Johnson Jr. and veteran guard Will Hernandez. Johnson said he was telling Demercado to “wipe it off” and move past the mistake. Gannon then approached and unloaded on Demercado. As he walked away, the third-year coach seemed to strike Demercado near the right shoulder pad.
On Monday, Gannon said he apologized to the team for a sideline confrontation.
“I woke up this morning and didn’t feel great about it, honestly, so in the team meeting I addressed it,” Gannon said. “I apologized to Emari, I apologized to the team and I just told them I kind of let the moment of what happened get the better of me there.”
The outburst was out of character for Gannon, who normally watches stoically on the sideline, arms crossed, talking calmly into his headset. At times, fans watching the head coach might have a difficult time determining if the Cardinals are winning or losing.
The running back’s mental gaffe sparked the Titans, who scored 16 unanswered points and won on a last-second field goal for their first win this season. It marked the third consecutive week the Cardinals (2-3) had lost in such a way. Arizona visits the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday.
How were Gannon’s actions viewed?
Gannon knew he reacted inappropriately. Locally, fans may not have agreed with the sideline outburst, but most appreciated the head coach’s fire.
For his three seasons in the desert, Gannon has been stoic on the sideline and measured with the media. These are strong leadership habits, but given the team’s recent struggles, fans have wanted to see more urgency. A season that began with playoff aspirations has started to teeter — the Cardinals have yet to play a complete game and Sunday’s loss was among the worst in the team’s hapless history. The Cardinals led the Titans 21-6 in the fourth quarter and coughed it up in a comedy of errors. They embarrassed themselves. — Doug Haller, Arizona sports writer
How the team needs to respond
That’ll be the most interesting part. In addition to the Demercado gaffe and Gannon outburst on Sunday, the Cardinals lost a fumble that bounced off Kyler Murray’s face mask in the red zone. They intercepted a pass, only to lose control of the ball and kick it into the end zone, where Tennessee recovered for a touchdown. And despite all this, they still had a chance to win. Up 21-19 in the final minutes, they had the ball with an opportunity to run out the clock. Instead, they stayed conservative in their play-calling, which led to a punt and the Titans’ winning drive.
On Sunday, the Cardinals visit the Colts, one of the hotter teams in the league. Arizona’s credibility is on the line. Do the Cardinals show pride and prove the Tennessee debacle was more of a fluke, a wake-up call they desperately needed?
To gain back trust from fans, they may not need to win, but they’ll have to play much better than they have this season. — Haller
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