NFL practices can get heated, and teammates will not always agree on the field. But what happened between Tennessee Titans teammates JC Latham and Jordan Elliott went well beyond a typical football argument, ending with Elliott leaving the team.
Latham has now spoken about the incident, saying there was no history of tension between them. He also explained why he is grateful to defensive lineman John Franklin-Myers, who stepped in when the situation threatened to escalate.
Speaking to Terry McCormick of TitanInsider.com, Latham described the incident as an unfortunate moment rather than the result of a longstanding dispute. He said he and Elliott had spent time together away from practice and had never argued before the confrontation at the Titans' facility.
"It was just an unfortunate situation," Latham said . "It was heat of the moment, and [expletive] happens. I don't really have too much to say about it. . . . There ain't never been no bad blood between us two. We were here on the summer getting treatment.
"Before that, we hung out whenever we were in the same city together. We actually had never had an argument leading up to it. So I actually think mental health is extremely important, and that's just one of those situations where you just pray for a guy like that."
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The incident occurred on Thursday, Oct. 15, at the Titans' practice facility. A dispute broke out between Latham and Elliott during practice, and the defensive tackle was told to leave the field.
Elliott then went to the locker room, removed his shoulder pads, and headed to the parking lot, where security cameras reportedly captured him retrieving a firearm from his vehicle.
Franklin-Myers followed Elliot outside and intervened before the situation escalated into a confrontation involving the firearm.
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Latham was still on the field when Franklin-Myers intervened, but he later made sure to thank his teammate for stepping in.
"I told him I appreciate it," Latham said. "I was still on the field, apparently, . . . so I just told him how much I appreciate him for that."
The Titans held Elliott out of practice the following day before making him inactive for their Week 6 game against the Indianapolis Colts. The team later released him Tuesday, Oct. 20, following its review of the incident.
The Titans currently rank No. 21 in PFN's NFL Defense Impact Rankings and are scheduled to face Elliott's former team, the Cleveland Browns, in Week 7.
This article originally appeared on Pro Football Network .
