Patriots RB James White says players will protest during NFL season

James White has used his platform to protest before, and it sounds like he'll be doing it again.

As Kevin Duffy wrote for MassLive.com, White was one of a handful of New England Patriots players who kneeled during the national anthem ahead of a September 2017 game in support of former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick, who sparked that protest movement the previous year as a response to police violence and racial injustices.

In the wake of the killing of George Floyd, an African-American man who died in Minneapolis police custody on May 25 after an officer kneeled on Floyd's neck for nearly nine minutes, White says he and other teammates will once again protest during the upcoming season.

Per ESPN's Mike Reiss, White spoke with reporters about the subject via a Thursday video conference.

"I'm sure we'll figure something out as a team," White said. "I'm not sure exactly what that will be, but I'm sure guys will peacefully protest in some type of form or fashion."

White added:

"I think everybody is trying to speak out a little bit more, a lot more people being more comfortable letting everybody know how they feel. I think that's important because some people might not understand that racism and things of that nature still exist but it does. The color of your skin unfortunately comes with different things in America.

"So just trying to raise people's awareness, trying to make changes. It's sad that things like that the George Floyd situation have been going on for year after year and time after time. People have to be held accountable for things like that. Some laws need to be changed. It all starts with a conversation. All these people speaking up is only going to help."

Brothers Devin and Jason McCourty, both cornerbacks for the Patriots, offered an angry response on Twitter after New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees publicly spoke out against players kneeling during the anthem.