Cardinals head coach Jonathan Gannon was fined $100,000 by the team for his tense meeting with Emari Demercado on Sunday, according to multiple reports.
Gannon went after the running back after he made a stupid mistake dropping the ball before entering the end zone, costing the Cardinals a key touchdown in their loss to the Titans.
Video of the incident surfaced on social media shortly after the play, showing how unhappy Gannon was with Demercado’s gaffe.
Gannon angrily marched toward Demercado, who was being consoled by Cardinals teammate Paris Johnson Jr., yelling in his ear.
He slapped Demerado in the chest before punching him again in the pads as he walked away, and his helmet flew off his head.
The NFL will take no further action, although the NFL Players Association is reportedly investigating the incident.
On Monday, Gannon apologized for the outburst, saying he “didn’t feel good about it.”
“I just told (the team) that I kind of let the moment of what happened get the best of me. 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, that’s not really who I am, who I want to be, and I told the guys that today.
“So it was a mistake on my part, and it’s like everyone there, everyone made some kind of mistake yesterday, which is why we didn’t win the game, and we can’t let that happen in the future.”
Had Demercado scored instead of fumbling at the goal line, the Cardinals would have taken a 27-6 lead and all but sealed the victory.
The Titans took advantage of that mistake to mount 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 punching Andrew Adams during a 2022 playoff game, according to Schefter.
