NAPA, Calif. -- While Marshawn Lynch contemplated talking to the media on Tuesday before ultimately declining, the running back's decision to sit during the national anthem before Saturday night's exhibition opener at the Arizona Cardinals remained a topic at Oakland Raiders training camp.
Tight end Jared Cook, who participated in the St. Louis Rams' "don't shoot" salute in 2014, said he was "proud" of Lynch, even if Lynch has yet to say if, or what, he was protesting.
"I think it's awesome," Cook said after practice. "Everybody has points of discussion after what happened in Charlottesville just the night before. I think it's important for men in our position to step up and speak on unnecessary situations we find ourselves in as minorities in this country.
"That's why I'm proud of him."
Cook, though, acknowledged he has not spoken with Lynch, who always has been a free spirit and often makes news when he says nothing at all.
"I don't know his intentions," Cook said. "I don't know what he wanted to do by it. But I know that guys like Colin Kaepernick have become my favorite football players for doing it."
Last year, when Lynch was retired, he spoke about Kaepernick's decision to kneel during the anthem as a protest against racism and police brutality.
"With what's going on, I'd rather see [Kaepernick] take a knee than stand up, put his hands up and get murdered," Lynch said on Conan O'Brien's show last September. "So I mean, my take on it is [it's] got to start somewhere. If that was the starting point, I just hope people open up their eyes to see that there's really a problem going on and something needs to be done for it to stop. And, I mean, if you're really not racist, then you won't see what [Kaepernick has] done, what he's doing, as a threat to America, but just addressing a problem that we have."
Cook, meanwhile, would not rule out joining players who protest the anthem.
"As far as the future goes, I don't know," Cook said. "I don't know. I know I feel uneasy about the situation going on in this country and have been for a while."
That would seem to fly in the face of Raiders coach Jack Del Rio, who said he would allow Lynch to sit, but reiterated that he preferred his players stand during the anthem.
Del Rio was asked Tuesday if he felt the need to re-state his stance to the players.
"I think I was pretty clear," Del Rio said. "If there are any questions, I'm always an open door. I lean on our leadership council. I lean on our veterans. I think the squad understands how I feel about it and I don't feel the need to go further."