The incident at practice

The Tennessee Titans released defensive tackle Jordan Elliott, 28, after an incident at the team facility on Thursday, 15 October. Elliott was involved in a dispute on the practice field with right tackle JC Latham. According to a person briefed on the incident, Elliott had a gun in his car and went to the parking lot to retrieve it after the dispute with another player. Reports from A to Z Sports and KPRC2 said that after being sent off the field, he removed his pads and walked out of the facility toward the players' lot. Defensive lineman John Franklin-Myers reportedly talked him down, and no one was hurt. Security cameras recorded the episode, those reports said.

Team statement and coach's defense

The Titans announced the release on Tuesday, 20 October, initially saying only that it followed an unspecified incident at the facility. The club's statement later named the date, saying, "On Thursday 15 October, there was an incident at our team facility involving Jordan Elliott." The team added that it would have no further comment on the matter. On Wednesday, head coach Robert Saleh confirmed the gun detail and described the episode as a "terrible lapse in judgment" that he read as a call for help.

“He's never committed a crime in his entire life and he pulled a gun, in the parking lot.”

Saleh acknowledged that the rules on guns on property are strict, but argued that a reflexive cut was not the right response to a player who was already in trouble.

League review and open questions

The NFL bans firearms at team facilities, and the league said it would keep looking into the matter. A league spokesperson said the Titans had promptly notified the league and remained in contact with its personnel. It is unclear whether the Titans filed a police report, and AtoZSports reported that the Nashville police had received none. JC Latham said there had never been bad blood between him and Elliott, and that the two had never argued before the practice episode. Latham added that the two had been in the same city over the summer while getting treatment.

Career and roster context

Elliott was picked by the Cleveland Browns in the third round of the 2020 draft and spent four seasons in Cleveland. He then signed a two-year, $7 million deal with the San Francisco 49ers, where he played 31 games with 29 starts over two seasons. Tennessee added him as a free agent on a two-year, $8 million deal, and he followed Saleh from San Francisco to Nashville. This season he appeared in five games, with one start and 11 tackles. The Titans ruled him inactive for their 26-20 Week 6 win over the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday, 18 October, three days after the incident.