Todd Bowles Explains Why Bruce Arians Was on Sideline During Saints-Bucs Brawl

He could be seen exchanging words with Marshon Lattimore before the brawl broke out.

The brawl between the Saints and Buccaneers grabbed national attention Sunday, and one subplot to the ugly affair was the reason for Bruce Arians being on the field. Before the fighting started, the former Tampa Bay coach and now-consultant for the team was seen exchanging words with New Orleans cornerback Marshon Lattimore. 

Lattimore continued to chirp then got into it with Tom Brady and eventually scuffled with both Leonard Fournette and Mike Evans, leading to his ejection along with Evans. But on Monday, coach Todd Bowles shed some light on why Arians and general manager Jason Licht were on the sidelines while on the road.

“He’s always upstairs but they didn’t have a box to give us this game,” he said. “So everybody that was upstairs were downstairs.”

Bowles on Bruce Arians' presence on the sidelines Sunday: pic.twitter.com/7tvoNIe9sv

— Sports by Tampa Bay Times (@TBTimes_Sports) September 19, 2022

It was also announced Monday that Evans will be suspended one game after hitting Lattimore when he wasn’t looking, leading to the brawl. It’s unclear what Arians and Lattimore said to each other. 

Arians retired this past offseason and relinquished his position to Bowles, who was the team’s defensive coordinator. 

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