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New Jersey – A few different things to get into today as the Jets continue to prepare for their big AFC showdown with the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday.
I asked Erin Henderson (foot) if he’s going to play on Sunday.
“Day to day boss,” Henderson said curtly.
I don’t blame him for not wanting to answer.
I wouldn’t either.
Todd Bowles has cut way back on his generosity with injury info with the press. We have a story on this in the latest issue of Jets Confidential Magazine which is out now.
Good for him.
Play by Belichick’s rules. Tell us nothing.
Henderson got hurt in Buffalo when his foot got caught in the artificial surface when he tried to cut.
Field Turf is better than old Astro Turf, but it’s far from perfect.
You see these injuries often, where guys plant, and their foot gets stuck, and this often leads not only to foot injuries, but knee injuries . . .
Speaking of Henderson, he told NJ.com the Jets don’t plan on doing any National Anthem protest in Kansas City.
“No, we are not,” linebacker Erin Henderson told NJ.com. “No.”
This shows you the type of respect the players have for Todd Bowles.
Also, the owner doesn’t want them to do it.
Here is the deal with these protests, without getting into politics – they can divide teams.
If we think that all of Colin Kaepernick’s teammates are cool with what he’s doing, we are kidding ourselves.
Don’t confuse silence with support.
A lot of guys are just keeping their mouths shut to help keep their team together.
And here is the other thing about the National Anthem protests – they are really bad for the NFL’s business.
There is panic in the league office.
Did you see that Yahoo survey this week?
A Yahoo survey says that 44 percent of Americans report a likelihood of shutting off NFL games should players continue to kneel for the national anthem.
TV ratings are also down.
But the NFL is between a rock and a hard place. The NFL rank-and-file is 75 percent African-American, and this movement has a lot of support with players, so if they put out an edict forcing guys to stand, it will a PR disaster, and the media will destroy them.
So the NFL has kind of remained quiet, perhaps hoping this eventually just goes away.
But after what happened in Charlotte and Tulsa (well none of us know exactly what happened – we have to wait for due process), expect more players to join this weekend.
But it’s good for the Jets that they don’t have to deal with this, if Henderson’s information is correct. The reason I say that is you never know what a guy might do on his own. So while Henderson says nobody is going to do it, can anyone ever predict what Brandon Marshall is going to do?
Also, the Jets have a lot of seats to fill, and a guy(s) kneeling isn’t good for business.
Of course the First Amendment is important. Of course freedom of speech and freedom are important. I’m not arguing that.
But the NFL is a business, and the elephant in the room is that a lot of fans don’t like these National Anthem protests. Many are claiming that they will stop watching or going to NFL games if it doesn’t stop.
So the Jets are lucky, it looks like, that they won’t have to deal with the bad PR that accompanies the Anthem protests.
September 22, 2016
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