Buffalo Bills coach Doug Marrone reportedly got into a heated argument with front office officials on the practice field. This latest clash - he purportedly blew up at his players earlier in training camp - raises the question of whether Marrone will make it through the entire season without being fired.
With the franchise up for sale, things seem to be quickly spiraling for the Bills. Marrone's latest verbal altercation took place on the practice field in front of his players, Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports reported Friday.
Per La Canfora:
"The incident began with Marrone, who sources said has had a strained relationship with director of player personnel Jim Monos from their time together in New Orleans, getting into a loud exchange with Monos in which the men were cursing at each other to the point where others noticed ('they were more or less MFing each other,' is how one source put it). General manager Doug Whaley then intervened. The expletives continued and finally team president and acting owner Russ Brandon tried to defuse the situation by getting involved in an attempt to get all parties to 'shut up,' as one source put it. But that too escalated into more yelling and Marrone, in earshot of players, making remarks along the lines of 'go ahead and fire me,' before order was restored and the team took the field for practice.
"Arguments are not uncommon within NFL meeting rooms, and disagreements and debate can be healthy, but the nature of this episode - not quarantined to a back room, and within the vicinity of players at practice - struck several witnesses as high unusual, as well as the fact it escalated from one official to the next."
The incident occurred before the end of preseason and final cuts, according to La Canfora.
Marrone also clashed with his players in August after two straight days of fights breaking out at practice. With a seemingly sour relationship with both the front office and the players, a quick succession of losses to start the season could spell the end of Marrone's tenure in Buffalo.
If Marrone is fired, a coordinator would likely be promoted to interim head coach to finish out the season until the new owner - bids are due by mid-September - can handpick his own guy.
