This is why I prefer systems with unified mechanics, a broad sense of creative agency and a fairly detailed character sheet: it allows the player to start from the fiction, and whenever something is said that seems to require mechanical adjudication, the GM can easily find something on the sheet to handle the roll.  One reason why Iron Crown systems were favorites of mine back in days of yore (today my systems accomplish the same thing with much less math).

That said, however, there are several reasons why the situation you describe can arise.  Sure sometimes it’s just jerky players who want to dominate the game, but it might also mean they’re feeling railroaded or ignored, or perhaps the narration has bored them, and they’re just champing at the bit for some way to influence things rather than being influenced by them.