Tennessee Titans left tackle JC Latham’s voice was just above a whisper as he spoke at his locker before practice on Oct. 21.
Latham has no ill will toward former Titans defensive tackle Jordan Elliott, who was released this week after pulling a gun at the team facility parking lot Oct. 15.
Elliott and Latham were involved in a routine practice skirmish while matching up in a team period on Oct. 15. Titans coach Robert Saleh confirmed that Elliott left the practice field to retrieve a gun from his vehicle.
No one on the team indicated what Elliott's intent was.
“It ain’t never been no bad blood between us two (him and Elliott),” Latham said. “We were here over the summer getting treatment before that. We hung out whenever we were in the same city together. We’ve actually never had an argument. I do think mental health is important. That’s just one of those situations where you pray for a guy like that, and if you can, reach out for him.
"But it’s no bad blood.”
More: What Cam Ward said about Jordan Elliott, Titans players response
More: What Robert Saleh said about Jordan Elliott situation, response from Titans and NFL
Tennessee defensive lineman John Franklin-Myers was credited for calming Elliott down to end the situation. Franklin-Myers did not practice Oct. 21 for maintenance and declined to speak with reporters in the locker room.
"For (Franklin-Myers) to go out there and just kind of help Jordan with whatever he was dealing with in that moment, I think was really admirable on JFM’s part," Saleh said.
Latham said given the chance, he would speak with Elliott, a seventh-year NFL veteran who had 11 tackles and one quarterback pressure in five games as a run-stopping defensive tackle.
How Titans, NFL handled gun incident involving Jordan Elliott
The Titans released Elliott on Oct. 20 after reviewing the incident. An NFL spokesperson told The Tennessean that the team promptly notified the league about what happened.
The situation is under NFL review. League rules prohibit "any personnel from bringing a firearm to club facilities, stadiums, team hotels and on team planes or buses."
No Metro Nashville Police report was filed on Oct. 15 from the Vanderbilt Health Football Center and Elliott has no criminal record, according to public records obtained by The Tennessean.
Elliott joined the Titans in the offseason as a free agent. He knew Saleh from their time with the San Francisco 49ers, where Saleh was defensive coordinator in 2025.
Saleh supported Elliott and encouraged NFL teams to reach out about acquiring him.
How Titan players responded to Jordan Elliott gun incident
Saleh said no one should speculate about whether Elliott was having mental struggles, but locker-room support for Elliott focused on that possibility.
“People always talk about ‘Oh, mental health,’ when bad things happen. But I think it’s the truth,” Titans eighth-year defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons said. “Jordan (has been) an unbelievable teammate from the time he got here up until last week. No one expected Jordan to make that type of move."
Three days after the incident, the Titans defeated the Indianapolis Colts 26-20 for their first win of the season. Tennessee quarterback Cam Ward said the team handled the turnaround well.
“It (the incident) definitely affects guys,” safety Amani Hooker told The Tennessean. “No one wants to see a player go through something. But at the end of the day, everyone’s got a job to do.”
Elliott practiced all last week before the injury report listed him out for personal reasons a day after the incident. Elliott was placed on the inactive list and did not travel to Indianapolis.
Defensive tackle Timmy Horne was activated from the practice squad as a result.
Horne and receiver Chimere Dike told The Tennessean they were unaware Elliott had gone to his vehicle that day.
“We made sure we stayed calm, cool and collected because of what was ahead of us (in Indianapolis),” Horne told The Tennessean. “That's a real leader right there (Franklin-Myers), going out of his way to help with a situation like that. That’s big.”
The Titans (1-5) host the Browns (4-2) on Oct. 25 at Nissan Stadium.
Contributing: Kirsten Ficus
Tyler Palmateer covers the Tennessee Titans for The Tennessean. Have a story idea for Tyler? Reach him at tpalmateer@tennessean.com and on the X platform, @tpalmateer83.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Tennessee Titans players support Jordan Elliott after gun incident at team facility