Eagles' Jenkins, Long slam NFL's 'unnecessary' and 'dumb' anthem policy
The NFL's new anthem policy - which can punish teams if any of their players kneel - has been met with widespread criticism among players, and that sentiment extends to the Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles.
Related: NFLPA director rips anthem policy for trying to 'exert control' over players
Safety Malcolm Jenkins, who's been a leader of the player protests in support of social justice issues, initially said he disagreed with the decision by NFL owners to "thwart the players' constitutional rights to express themselves."
He doubled down on those comments Tuesday.
"I think it's a still a bad idea and something that was unnecessary," Jenkins said, according to Dave Zangaro of NBC Sports Philadelphia. "But now there's a media storm the league has kind of brought on itself."
Defensive end Chris Long was outspoken in support of the protests last season, and was vocal about his intention to skip the Eagles' championship visit to the White House if they were invited, which they were earlier this month.
He said the new policy confuses the true meaning of the protests and is "driven by fear."
"It's their (the owners') right, but I think it was a dumb move and I think it was clumsy," Long said. "I don't think it was rooted in patriotism. I love this country, I love our vets, the guys protesting love our country and love our vets. I think it was driven by fear of a diminished bottom line, which I already wrote on Twitter, you can see that on Twitter. The underlying factor is they're afraid of the president. I don't really need to expound much on that. It's their right, again, but it's a clumsy rule."
The Eagles' trip to the White House is believed to be scheduled for early next week.
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