Did Former Bucs Coach Bruce Arians Instruct Mike Evans To Fight Marshon Lattimore?

Bruce Arians is no longer the head coach of the Buccaneers but was closely involved in Sunday's game against the Saints. It appears as though that was also true for the fight that broke out in the fourth quarter.

Arians, who was the head coach in Tampa Bay over the last three seasons, handed the keys to Todd Bowles during the offseason. He stayed on with the team as a "senior football consultant" but does not call plays and does not manage in-game decisions.

Although he may have on Sunday. Kind of.

Arians was not on the field in Week 1 — at least noticeably. However, he returned to the sideline in Week 2 for a heated rivalry bout.

Considering that he is not the head coach, it doesn't make much sense. Why was he there at all?

And if he had to be on the field as a "consultant," Arians should have been in the back by the bench. He definitely did not need to be as close to the field as he was.

Early in the fourth quarter, the former head coach was right up in the action. Arians exchanged some words with New Orleans defensive back Marshon Lattimore, which does not seem like something that he should be doing.

Not long thereafter, a WILD brawl broke out amongst the two teams. It started with some jawing between Tom Brady and Lattimore and escalated from there.

Mike Evans came flying in and ROCKED Lattimore's world — for the second time in five years. A strikingly similar incident took place in 2017.

This time, however, it appeared as though Evans had some additional encouragement from Arians. Video from the sideline shows Arians right as Brady and Lattimore were talking that talk.

He appeared to turn to Evans and say something along the lines of "hey Mike, get out there!"

That was moments before the wide receiver turned toward Lattimore and took matters into his own hands. While we don't know exactly what was said, Bruce Arians was in the mix to some extent.

At the very least, Arians had Lattimore riled up before the entire thing unfolded. And regardless of what came out of his mouth, he was spouting off as Brady and Lattimore exchanged pleasantries before Evans got involved.

To Evans credit, what choice did he have? His quarterback is TOM BRADY after all.