Robert Saleh
Credit: Tennessee Titans
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The Tennessee Titans upset the Indianapolis Colts for their first win of the 2026 NFL season last Sunday, but due to real-life, off-field events, Titans head coach Robert Saleh took on a somber, serious tone at his Wednesday press conference.
Saleh confirmed that the Titans released defensive lineman Jordan Elliott after Elliott went to his car to retrieve a gun after an undisclosed incident at the Titans’ facility. Defensive end John Franklin-Myers de-escalated the situation and, Saleh said, “help[ed] Jordan through whatever he was dealing with at that moment.”
“The league’s firearm policy prohibits any personnel from bringing a firearm to club facilities, stadiums, and team hotels and on team planes or buses,” the NFL said in a statement provided to NBC News on Wednesday. “The club promptly notified the league of the matter, which is under review.”
At Saleh’s presser, reporters probed for details, including whether Elliott exhibited any warning signs, leading Saleh to give a delicate, nuanced statement on not only Elliott, but gun violence and mental health in the NFL at large, as excerpted below.
“First, I want to say I think the organization and the NFL did an outstanding job with regards to pausing, which I think everyone needs to do in this situation is pause, with regards to the news that Jordan had a gun,” Saleh said. “The reason why I think the NFL and the organization did an outstanding job is because this is a man who is a father, a great husband. He’s never committed a crime in his entire life, and he pulled a gun in the parking lot.”
“The first question that I think everyone forgets to ask is, why would a great man, a great father, a man who shows up on time every day, works his ass off every day, contributes the way he’s supposed to contribute, is well-liked in the locker room, why did he go off the rails and grab a gun?
“And, to me, those are small signs of a cry of help, in terms of, obviously, there’s something greater happening. I thought the team and the NFL did an outstanding job with regards to pausing and asking those questions and checking every single box with regards to getting him the help that he needs.
“In the last year, the NFL has lost two outstanding young men to taking their own lives because they may have been crying for help, and everyone ignored it. I’m not saying that’s where [Elliott] was. I’m not going to speak on that. But these kids go through a lot. A lot. And, like I said, I will stand on the table for Jordan’s character.
“Unfortunately, rules are rules with regards to guns on property. And sometimes, it’s far greater than the knee-jerk reaction of kicking somebody when they’re down. My message to 31 other teams would be: If you need a hell of a run-stopping D-tackle that can help you on a playoff run, give me a call. I’ll tell you everything you need to know about him. He’s a good man. Had a terrible lapse in judgment that I recognize as a call for help more than a criminal act, and it’s unfortunate the way it went down.”
Saleh did not name the two players of whom he spoke, but Dallas Cowboys defensive end Marshawn Kneeland died by suicide last November, and Minnesota Vikings receiver Rondale Moore died of a suspected self-inflicted gunshot wound in February.
As for Elliott, Saleh reiterated that the priority was to get him “the help he needs,” including access to clinicians.
“I don’t know if it helped anything at all, but I know that the NFL has been struggling with keeping its kids,” Saleh said. “I’m not saying he had a mental health issue. I’m not saying all of that. Because there’s many, many forms of ways people deal with things. Like I said, this is a young man who has never had a problem in his past. Ever. And so, when something like that happens, I think it’s important for the entire world to step back and ask why and attack it head on for the sake of the kid.”
Saleh vouched for another NFL team to give Elliott a second chance. The Cleveland Browns drafted Elliott in the third round of the 2020 NFL draft, and he played for them until 2023. He spent two seasons with the San Francisco 49ers before signing with the Titans this offseason.