The NFL and National Football League Players Association have agreed to halt enforcement of rules regarding the new national anthem policy while the two sides work on a resolution.

The league and its players union issued a joint statement late Thursday, hours after The Associated Press reported that Miami Dolphins players who protest on the field during the anthem could be suspended for up to four games under a team policy issued this week.

Dolphins owner Stephen Ross said he hadn’t decided whether to actually discipline players who protest during the national anthem when he formally told the team that the demonstrations could be punishable.

“We were asked to submit a form to the NFL on our overall discipline policy prior to the start of the rookie report date,” Ross said in a statement Friday, explaining why a one-sentence reference to “Proper Anthem Conduct” was included in the team’s official discipline policy. “The one line sentence related to the national anthem was a placeholder as we haven’t made a decision on what we would do, if anything, at that point.”

President Donald Trump, a frequent critic of protesting players, said Friday that players should be suspended for a game for kneeling once, then suspended for the season with no pay if they kneel a second time.

“Isn’t it in contract that players must stand at attention, hand on heart? The $40,000,000 Commissioner must now make a stand,” Trump tweeted, referring to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell.

Miami’s policy was obtained Thursday by The Associated Press and listed anthem conduct under behavior that could be found “detrimental to the club.” It was the final bullet point on Miami’s list.

All of the violations carry potential penalties of suspension with or without pay, or fines. The maximum penalty – rarely given by clubs themselves – is a four-game suspension and a fine of another week of pay.

A person familiar with league protocol told The Associated Press on Friday that NFL teams were not required to create any anthem policies when they submitted their annual discipline notices to the league and players.

COLTS: Andrew Luck should be back in his old spot when Indianapolis opens training camp next week.

Yes, he’ll be behind center. Yes, he’ll take some extra days off. And, no, he may not play the usual preseason rotation.

But when he’s on the field, GM Chris Ballard expects to see the same old Luck – throwing passes without limitations for the first time in more than 18 months.

Luck said he played through a sore right shoulder in 2015 and eventually opted for surgery on the partially torn labrum in January 2017. He missed all of last season as he tried to rehab.

Two weeks after Luck started to throw in October, he was shut down after complaining of lingering pain. In early November, he was placed on the season-ending injured reserve list and didn’t resume throwing publicly again until last month’s three-day mandatory minicamp.

He’s spent the last five weeks working out in California.

JAGUARS: Defensive end Dante Fowler was suspended without pay for the season opener against the New York Giants for attacking a man in a parking lot a year ago.

Related Stories