Titans release Jordan Elliott after gun incident at team facility

The Tennessee Titans released defensive lineman Jordan Elliott after an incident involving a gun at the team’s training facility, ending his stint with the team after five games this season.

The Titans said the incident occurred Thursday, Oct. 15, and that they decided to release Elliott after reviewing it. He was off the roster by Tuesday. “We will have no further comment on the matter,” the team said in a statement.

The Guardian reported that Elliott went to his car to retrieve a gun after an altercation with right tackle JC Latham during practice. Citing reports from A to Z Sports and KPRC2, it said Elliott had been ordered off the field after the scuffle, took off his pads and went to the players’ parking lot. Security cameras captured the scene, according to those reports.

Defensive lineman John Franklin-Myers talked Elliott down, and no one was hurt, The Guardian reported. Elliott did not practice Friday because of what the team described as “personal reasons.” He was inactive for Sunday’s 26-20 win over the Indianapolis Colts; his listing gave the reason as “not injury related, personal.”

Titans coach Robert Saleh called Elliott “a good man” and said he hoped another NFL team would sign him. But Saleh said the team’s rules left no room for Elliott to remain in Tennessee.

“He’s a good man (who) had a terrible lapse in judgment that I recognize as a call for help more than a criminal act,” Saleh told reporters, according to NBC News. “It’s unfortunate the way it went down.”

“Unfortunately rules are rules with regards to guns on (team) property,” Saleh said. He offered to speak with other teams about Elliott, describing him as “a hell of a run-stopping D tackle” who could help on a playoff run.

Quarterback Cam Ward also spoke in support of Elliott. “At the end of the day, we’re all humans,” Ward said, according to NBC News. “We’re all with him. I mean he’s a great person.”

Elliott, 28, signed with the Titans during the offseason on a two-year, $8 million deal, according to The Guardian. The move reunited him with Saleh, who had been the defensive coordinator of the San Francisco 49ers, Elliott’s previous team, last season. Elliott spent two seasons with the 49ers after four with the Cleveland Browns, who selected him in the third round of the 2020 NFL draft.

A Houston native, Elliott played college football for Texas and Missouri. NBC News reported Wednesday that officials with the players’ union and Elliott’s agent could not immediately be reached for comment.