3 Eagles Stay Off Field For Anthem Prior To Pats Game

FOXBOROUGH, MA — Three members of the Philadelphia Eagles were not present during the playing of the national anthem prior to Thursday night’s game against the New England Patriots at Gillette Stadium.

A photo tweeted by John Clark of NBC Sports Philadelphia shows Malcolm Jenkins and DeVante Bausby standing in the visitor's tunnel with a note that Michael Bennett remained in the locker room. The moves were in compliance with the NFL's anthem policy, which is not in effect for this year.

The protests continue a trend of the Eagles protesting in ways that do not include kneeling. Aside from one player in a preseason game, no members of the team kneeled or protested during the anthem last season but a handful of players did do a standing protest, as noted by the Washington Post. They did, however, get disinvited to the White House after it became apparent that attendance was going to be low.

There were no reports of anyone absent on the Patriots side.

In other game news, Tom Brady took his first snaps of the year and played the first two quarters. The Patriots quarterback didn't disappoint in the 37-20 win, completing 19 of 26 passes for 172 yards and two touchdowns in a half of play.

Image Credit: Dan Libon/Patch