Cardinals’ Gannon apologizes to Demercado for sideline spat

TEMPE, Ariz. — Cardinals coach Jonathan Gannon apologized to Emari Demercado during a team meeting Monday for his reaction after the running back let go of the football before crossing the goal line on what would’ve been a 72-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter of Sunday’s shocking 22-21 loss to the Tennessee Titans.

In a video on social media, Gannon walks over to Demercado as he was being consoled by left tackle Paris Johnson Jr. and then gets in the running back’s face. Gannon appears to rip into Demercado, continuing his rant as he begins walking away. As Gannon walks away, he appears to make contact with Demercado’s right arm.

“I woke up this morning and didn’t feel great about it, honestly,” Gannon said.

“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.”

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Demercado’s touchdown would’ve put Arizona up 28-6 with about 12:40 left in the fourth quarter. Teams up 22 in the fourth quarter are 1,276-1 over the past 25 seasons, according to ESPN Research.

The Titans scored on the drive after Demercado’s blunder, kick-starting a comeback that gave them their first win of the season and the Cardinals one of their worst losses in franchise history.

Gannon didn’t bench Demercado after the play and said Monday that there wouldn’t be a repercussion for the blunder.

“Just the best thing for the team,” Gannon said.

Gannon said his reaction was a result of the pent-up frustration in a game full of gaffes, mistakes and ill-timed penalties.

“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.”

Gannon also 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.

“That’s a big loss,” Gannon said.