GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Marquis Bundy has heard that tone before.
It’s one of resigned disappointment -- the tone you hear when yelling can’t do anything more. He hears it from his mother whenever she gets mad at him now.
"She don’t yell at me no more," Bundy said. "She gets serious. She don’t even yell."
And on Monday, he heard it from Cardinals head coach Bruce Arians.
Arians employed the hushed tone of displeasure after Monday’s practice, when he quietly and politely told his wide receivers how disappointed he was in them and that general manager Steve Keim was looking at options to replace them. It may have been an empty threat -- it’s still too early to tell. But Arians’ unhappiness was loud and clear.
“I was very nice about it,” Arians said. “I said Steve’s upstairs right now looking at tape for new ones.”
Arians made it clear Monday that he doesn’t care where his players hear his messages for them, whether directly from him or through the media’s reporting of Arians’ comments. He knew after practice that he "scared" his players by pivoting from his typical yelling.
Arians said that when he gets quiet, he gets serious. It’s a tactic he learned from coaches earlier in his career and it seemed to work Monday.
“Oh, that’s bad,” Arians said. “If I’m hollering, I’m coaching them. When I’m not hollering, it’s not a good thing.”
