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Giants' Olivier Vernon, Michael Thomas put anthem protests on hold as discussions with NFL continue

As the NFL and the NFLPA work toward a policy to address player protests of social injustices during pregame national anthems, two of the Giants players who took a knee last season did not do so during Thursday night’s preseason opener.

Olivier Vernon and Michael Thomas (formerly of the Dolphins) both stood in line with their teammates while the song was sung prior to kickoff of the game against the Browns at MetLife Stadium.

“Right now we’re waiting to see how everything goes with the league and we’ve just been engaging in talks and seeing what everybody is talking about and seeing where everything is going to lead to,” Vernon said of his decision.