Arizona Cardinals head coach Jonathan Gannon faced criticism after a heated sideline confrontation with running back Emari Demercado during Sunday's shocking 22-21 loss to the Tennessee Titans. The incident was a pure reaction of the coach after Emari Demercado dropped the ball before crossing the goal line on what should have been a 72-yard touchdown.
Gannon discussed the situation during a Monday team meeting and apologized to Demercado and the entire roster. Video footage showed the coach getting in the running back's face and appearing to make contact with his arm after the costly mistake.
Despite the rage reaction, Gannon made it clear there would be no punishment for Demercado's mistake. He didn't bench the running back after the game and said Monday that there wouldn't be a costly action for the blunder.
“Just the best thing for the team,” Gannon said when explaining his decision.
The head coach admitted to feeling frustrated throughout the game. Arizona had given multiple chances to be disappointed by ill-timed penalties, contributing to the loss.
“I just thought it was a big play in the game that it needs to be executed,” Gannon said. “I've seen us do that before, execute those things, and we hold our hat on standard operating procedures about the ball, and I just would've liked to see it execute a little bit better there”.
The Cardinals also received bad news on the injury front. Gannon announced that second-year tight end Tip Reiman will go on injured reserve and miss the rest of the season because of an ankle injury suffered against the Titans.
By choosing no punishment, Gannon has given a clear signal of process over spectacle, backing Demercado while challenging the locker room to tighten execution, especially with Tip Reiman on IR, as the margin for error shrinks.
“That's a big loss,” Gannon said about losing Reiman.
The Cardinals have now lost three straight games, all by a combined five points.
