Eric Reid kneeling during the national anthem in November. Mike Mccarn/Associated Press
The N.F.L. and its players association defended their policy of random drug testing of the league’s players on Wednesday after Carolina Panthers safety Eric Reid suggested that he had been subjected to a curiously high number of them this season.
Reid, who joined the Panthers in Week 4, noted in December that he had been selected for a drug test for the seventh time this season. Ten players from each team are selected for testing each week, according to the league’s drug policy, and Yahoo Sports reported that the chance a single player would be chosen for so many tests randomly was about 1 in 500.