Gannon’s accountability with himself started first thing Monday morning. Video circulated on social media of an interaction of a heated Gannon with running back Emari Demercado following Demercado’s fumble just before crossing the goal line on his long run. The coach said he woke up the day after and “didn’t feel great about it.”
He addressed it in the team meeting Monday, calling it “a mistake by me.”
“I apologized to Emari and I apologized to the team,” Gannon said. “I just told them I let the moment of what happened get the better of me there. I try to be emotionally stable and calm, because my job is to solve problems during a game and lead the charge on that. It’s not who I am, who I want to be.”
Gannon added there would be no repercussions for Demercado because of the fumble, because “it’s the best thing for the team.”
The other side of the ball was also under the microscope. Gannon noted the defense had a chance to close out the last three losses. But he also watched the unit shut down the Titans during “two-minute mechanics” at the end of the first half.
“I know it’s in there and I know we can do it,” Gannon said. “Do we have to get into different calls, do we need to deploy people a little different? Those are things we have to look at. It’s up to us to close the game when the defense is on the field.”
Higgins said the Cardinals know the process has to continue to improve to get different results. Gannon, even with all his analysis, emphasized repeatedly his belief in the staff and players.
“We’ll stick together. We’ve been through adversity,” Gannon said. “We’ve got the right leaders in the locker room. The players will rally around doing the right things.
“If we didn’t have the right people in the locker room, I’d be on red alert. Just from experience being in the NFL, you can see this go bad a lot of times. I’m not worried about it.”