After the Tennessee Titans
released defensive lineman Jordan Elliott on Tuesday due to an incident at the team facility, they said they wouldn't make any further statements on the issue. Unfortunately for them, the rest of the league didn't get the memo, and information began coming out about Elliott attempting to get a firearm out of his vehicle after an altercation with J.C. Latham during practice.As more and more people are chiming in about the incident, Latham himself addressed the media after practice on Wednesday.
"No, no it's just an unfortunate situation," Latham says. "Yeah, you know, heat of the moment, [expletive] happens, so, I ain't really got too much to say about it."
A reporter brings up the fact that Latham and Elliott don't really
go up against each other much and asks if it was a scout team or something. "Yeah, it was just some practice and team periods, a lot of football."
Latham is hard to hear in the video with the background noise, but the next reporter asks if he said anything to John Franklin-Myers for his ability to intercept Elliott and de-escalate the situation. "Yeah, yeah, yeah," Latham says. "I told him I appreciate it. I was still on the field, apparently, whenever, so I just told him how much I appreciate him for that."
Latham also said that while he hasn't had a chance to reach out to Elliott, he hopes to do so, "given the opportunity."
Earlier today, head coach Robert Saleh addressed the media as well and said that this wasn't necessarily the act of a bad person, but rather a bad decision made by someone who is going through some things. Latham was asked if he agreed with that, and he said, "Yeah, 100%. I mean, there ain't never been no bad blood between us two. We were here over the summer, both getting treatment. Before that, we hung out whenever we were in the same city together. We actually never had an argument leading up to it.
"So, I do think mental health is extremely important, and that's just one of those situations where we just pray for a guy like that. And if you can, reach out to him. I hope for the best for him, but it's no bad blood. It's nothing personal at all on my end."
Latham's response directly shows his true character. He was mature, he was calm, he was respectful, and he also recognized that this is someone he knows well who doesn't normally have this type of behavior. Hopefully everyone can move on from this incident sooner rather than later and get back to playing football.
This article originally appeared on Titans Wire: Titans' J.C. Latham addresses Jordan Elliott incident
