Eric Reid finished his first NFL game in 280 days with three tackles, a win and mixed feelings.
The safety made his Carolina Panthers debut Sunday, as his new team beat the New York Giants 33-31 on Graham Gano's 63-yard field goal. But as Reid told reporters after the game, all he could think about was who wasn't playing in Week 5.
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Kaepernick, a former San Francisco 49ers quarterback who hasn't played in the NFL since 2016, remains a free agent. The 30-year-old was the first NFL player to sit, then kneel, during the playing of the national anthem to protest racial inequality and social injustice. Reid was the first player to join Kaepernick in that protest.
The 26-year-old safety told NBC Sports Bay Area's Matt Maiocco in March that he would consider other forms of protest this season, but he kneeled during the anthem Sunday.
“From the beginning, Colin has been flexible,” Reid said at the time. “He started by sitting. He changed it up. We decided to kneel. And we understand that you got to change with the times. So I’m not saying I’m going to stop being active, because I won’t. I’m just going to consider different ways to be active, different ways to bring awareness to the issues of this country to improve on.
“I don’t think it’ll be in the form of protesting during the anthem. And I said ‘during’ because it’s crazy to me that the narrative got changed to we were protesting the anthem, because that wasn’t the case. But I think we’re going to take a different approach to how to be active.”
Reid told reporters in Charlotte on Sunday that "I've had nothing but support" since signing with the team Sept. 27. Kaepernick was in his corner, too.