Mike Jones

USA TODAY Sports

LANDOVER, Md. – After weeks of boasting one of the largest groups of protesting players during the national anthem, only six active members of the San Francisco 49ers, and one inactive player, took a knee on Sunday before facing the Washington Redskins.

With a smattering of boos raining down from the stands, wide receiver Marquise Goodwin, linebacker Eli Harold, defensive lineman Arik Armstead, cornerback K’Waun Williams, safety Eric Reid and defensive back Adrian Colbert all took a knee as they continued to protest police brutality against African Americans. One inactive player took a knee with his teammates. The rest of the 49ers all stood during the anthem.

This came a week after roughly 20 49ers players took a knee during the anthem when San Francisco played at Indianapolis. Vice President Mike Pence left the stadium shortly after in what was believed to be a publicity stunt, and President Trump later tweeted that he had instructed Pence to do so.

Reid ranked among the earliest players to join Kaepernick in the protests when the quarterback first initiated them last year. He has taken the lead in San Francisco while remaining vocal on the need for change, even though Kaepernick no longer is on the team.

Reid said fewer players took a knee during the anthem on Sunday because of a miscommunication that he took the blame for.

“We talked as a group and I was considering that since we were in the nation’s capital, standing to finally put to bed the accusations that we don’t respect the military. And I did a poor job of getting back to all the guys saying, ‘Look, we’re just going to continue the message and continue to kneel, and it’s not about disrespecting them.’ So, it was a hiccup on my part.”

This week during the fall league meetings in New York, the NFL, its owners and players are slated to continue the discussion of how to handle the anthem protests, and how to further accomplish the goal of bringing awareness to the problem of police brutality against African Americans and other issues of social injustice.

Asked about his expectations for the meetings, Reid discussed a desire for collective progress.

“My hope is that the NFL will be progressive and utilize their platform to bring awareness to these issues so we don’t have to protest anymore,” Reid said. “That will be the ultimate goal for me going into the meetings. We just want progress to be made on these issues. When Colin and I started these protests, it was to raise awareness. And so, the goal now would be to continue to raise awareness, but just through the NFL’s platform.”

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