Malcolm Jenkins Opens Up About Drew Brees Following Controversial Remarks; Also Speaks On Racism & Says Black People Can’t Be Racist

Recently, NFL star Drew Brees spoke out against those who participate in the kneeling protest during the national anthem – a movement started by former 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick, calling it disrespectful.

In an interview with Yahoo Finance, Brees stated he’ll “never agree with anybody disrespecting the flag of the United States of America.”

However, after tons of backlash, Brees apologized the next day.

Now his teammate Malcolm Jenkins is opening up about colleagues’ remarks in a new interview with Taylor Rooks of Bleacher Report.

“I honestly don’t think he necessarily knew what he wasn’t saying,” Jenkins said. “And I tried to tell him, ‘Your thoughts on the flag are yours. You are open to that opinion; I have no problem with that opinion. Nobody’s hurt because of how you feel about the flag, we actually know that about you and expect that from you. But it’s more about acknowledging what it may mean to me or what it may not mean to me. Not even about the flag, just about the entire demonstration in general, what that’s about. Acknowledging that pain or that gripe or grievance that I have is really what it comes down to.'”

Rooks proceeded to ask Jenkins if he felt Brees understands why his statement was wrong, to which Jenkins responded by suggesting with all the backlash, it’s hard not to.

“I think obviously with all of the backlash with him talking to a lot of the guys he’s closest with and the guys that he’s played with over his long career,” Jenkins answered. “He reached out to a lot of us, me included, and I think that guys being able to tell somebody like Drew Brees the truth that, ‘Your words hurt because of this,’ I think that really helped him realize how deep it was for his teammates and for other people that didn’t share his experience. And I think he understands that sometimes there’s opportunity for you to really just listen and be a lot more careful, especially as polarized as our country is.”

Jenkins also spoke out against racism in the interview, which he’s done over recent years, stating, “When it comes to racism, people have to understand that it can deal with hate, but you don’t have to hate people in order to be racist. Race has everything to do with your prejudices and the ability to exercise some type of power, which is why you hear a lot of Black people say Black people can’t be racist.”