Cardinals head coach Jonathan Gannon is being fined $100,000 by the team for his tense sideline encounter with Emari Demercado on Sunday, according to multiple reports.
Gannon went at the running back after he made a boneheaded error by dropping the ball before getting into the end zone, costing the Cardinals a key touchdown during their loss to the Titans.
Video of the incident surfaced on social media shortly after the play showing just how unhappy Gannon was with Demercado’s gaffe.
Gannon furiously walked over to Demercado, who was being consoled by Cardinals teammate Paris Johnson Jr., screaming at him in his ear.
He slapped Demerado in the chest before again hitting him in the pads as he walked off, and his headset flew off his head.
The NFL will not take any further action, though the NFL Players Association is reportedly looking into the incident.
On Monday, Gannon apologized for the outburst, saying he “didn’t feel great about it.”
“I just told [the team], I kind of let the moment of what happened get the better of me there. Obviously, I try to be emotionally stable and calm because my job is to solve problems during a game and lead the charge on that. So, it’s not really who I am, who I want to be, and I told the guys that today.
“So, it’s a mistake by me, and it’s just like everybody in there, everybody made some type of mistake yesterday, which culminates to why we didn’t win the game, and we can’t let it happen moving forward.”
Had Demercado scored instead of fumbling at the goal line, the Cardinals would have gone up 27-6 and all but sealed the victory.
The Titans used the blunder to stage a massive comeback, beating Arizona 22-21 for their first win of the year.
Gannon becomes the first coach to be fined for an altercation with a player since the NFL fined former Buccaneers coach Bruce Arians $50,000 for swiping at Andrew Adams during a 2022 playoff game, per Schefter.