Report: Cardinals Fire OL Coach Sean Kugler After Incident in Mexico City

Arizona Cardinals head coach Kliff Kingsbury told Bob McManaman of the Arizona Republic on Tuesday that offensive line coach and running game coordinator Sean Kugler was fired after an incident in Mexico City on Sunday night.

"We relieved him of his duties, and he was sent home Monday morning prior to the game," Kingsbury said.

"It's challenging anytime you make a staff change in that type of manner," he added.

Kingsbury did not address Kugler's firing at a Tuesday news conference:

Kugler did not coach in Monday night's 38-10 loss to the San Francisco 49ers, which dropped the Cardinals to 4-7 on the season.

The 56-year-old had been with the Cardinals since the 2019 season as the offensive line coach. He added the role of running game coordinator in 2021. He previously worked as an offensive line coach for the Detroit Lions (2004-05), Buffalo Bills (2007-09), Pittsburgh Steelers (2010-12) and Denver Broncos (2018).

He was the Lions' tight ends coach from 2001-05 and also served as UTEP's head coach from 2013-17, compiling an 18-36 record and one bowl appearance.

Last week, the Cardinals surprisingly released running back Eno Benjamin, who had played well while James Conner dealt with injures.

But Conner returned Nov. 6 and Benjamin played just one snap Nov. 13, which reportedly left him fuming.

According to Kent Somers of the Republic, Benjamin "didn't hide his displeasure at his diminished role, per sources. That included getting into a confrontation with an assistant coach after the game.

"It was enough for the Cardinals to move on from a player they had been raving about since last spring."

Benjamin's agent, Drew Rosenhaus, disputed that Benjamin had a confrontation with a coach.

"I'm not aware of that," he told Somers. "I don't believe that is accurate."

It's been a tumultuous season for the Cardinals, who started the season with DeAndre Hopkins' six-game PED suspension and have had a number of offensive players suffer injuries, from Kyler Murray, Zach Ertz and Marquise Brown to multiple offensive linemen.

Arizona is on the outside looking in at the NFC playoff picture and will have to address those struggles directly for HBO's midseason edition of Hard Knocks.