Patriots safety Devin McCourty thinks this offseason

NFL players and league officials after a series of player-led demonstrations during the national anthem this season attempted to raise awareness for social issues.

”I think it’s been incredible because when all these issues came up people talked about it being a big distraction. And you look around now Will Grier Jersey , you look around and you’ve got it’s like 4 or 5 different guys in the player’s coalition that have done different things and are playing in the Super Bowl,” McCourty said Monday at Super Bowl media night. ”So obviously you can do both. Players have shown throughout the years, whether it be community service work, charities – that you can do more than just play football.”

McCourty was one of several NFL players to engage in protests during the national anthem to draw attention to issues such as police brutality and racial inequality.

NFL owners and executives met with players, who formed a Players Coalition in October before the league’s fall meetings in New York. There also were extensive phone conversations to get an idea of how the league could address the players’ concerns.

In December the NFL agreed to commit $90 million over the next seven years to social justice causes in a three-segment plan that involves league players. The agreement was criticized by some players who disagreed with Eagles safety and founder Malcolm Jenkins choosing to exclude Colin Kaepernick from its meetings, and felt the agreement was a means to stop the anthem protests. But McCourty, still a member of the coalition, said he believes the NFL’s overtures are genuine.

He said the leadership from Jenkins, who he will face in Sunday’s Super Bowl http://www.carolinapanthersteamonline.com/christian-miller-jersey , has remained strong.

”I think he’s been incredible just for the fact that he put so much time in,” McCourty said. ”He just had a daughter I think a week ago. He’s still on phone calls, he’s still being leader of the coalition. So it’s been great to me almost for a year now to link on with those guys – him and Anquan (Boldin), what they’ve started.

”I think that for a lot of us it’s just being able to add to it and bring whatever our passions and feeling are to it from what he’s already started. I think sky’s the limit for what the coalition can be.”

McCourty also has an appreciation for the different voices brought into the conversation throughout this season.

He was one of the players originally invited into meetings with owners, and he said Patriots owner Robert Kraft and his son, Patriots president Jonathan Kraft, are still keeping communication lines open.

”We’ve been really fortunate here. Whether it’s me talking to Robert Kraft or Jonathan Kraft -they’re very receptive,” McCourty said. ”They want to be involved. Jonathan came with us to Harvard Law School. It seems like it’s gonna be a really good step. I think it’s been really good to get the NFL involved. Because it’s a huge resource being in the NFL. There’s no reason not to have them involved…It’s bigger than just coming together. It shows what the NFL can be about.”

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CINCINNATI (AP) — In his first moves as the Cincinnati Bengals coach, Zac Taylor hired longtime friend Brian Callahan as offensive coordinator and Jim Turner — fired by the Dolphins in 2014 for his part in a bullying scandal — as offensive line coach.Callahan’s move from the Raiders Jordan Scarlett Jersey , where he was quarterbacks coach, was expected. The two have known each other since college and share offensive philosophies.Hiring Turner was Taylor’s first surprising decision . Turner hasn’t coached in the NFL since a report commissioned by the league documented his involvement in the bullying of offensive lineman Jonathan Martin and others with the Dolphins. Taylor was on the Dolphins’ staff at the time.Turner spent the last three seasons as offensive line coach at Texas A&M. He was suspended for two weeks in 2016 for derogatory comments during a football clinic for women.Taylor said he knows Turner well, giving him confidence to hire him.“I think everyone gets caught in some situations sometimes that they wish they would do differently, but again, I know those situations inside and out and I feel very comfortable bringing Jim in here and all the other guys we’re bringing in,” Taylor said.The Bengals also hired James Casey as tight ends coach and Ben Martin as assistant offensive line coach on Thursday, three days after Taylor left the Rams for his first head coaching job.Taylor played for Callahan’s father, Bill, at Nebraska. Callahan Greedy Williams Jersey , who is a year younger than Taylor, went to UCLA but developed a friendship after meeting him.“As the years went on, we gained some mutual friends and kind of started to keep in touch and kind of talked football every year at the (NFL scouting) combine and go to breakfast and talk quarterbacks,” Callahan said. “We would call each other during the years if we were crossing over with teams: ‘What did you think of these guys?'”Callahan will be the Bengals’ third offensive coordinator in the last three years. They finished last on offense in 2017 and were near the bottom again last season, when quarterback Andy Dalton and receiver A.J. Green were hurt.Taylor plans to call the plays, with Callahan helping to create the offense, develop the weekly game plans, and provide input during games.“The play-calling thing is really irrelevant to what the relationship is going to be and the function of my job here,” Callahan said. “Outside of just the game day http://www.ravensfootballauthentics.com/justice-hill-jersey-authentic , I think it would be the same as any offensive coordinator in the league.”Casey spent the last three seasons at the University of Houston, where he coached tight ends and special teams.Martin also was on staff with the Dolphins from 2014-15 as an offensive assistant. Since then, he’s been the offensive line coach at Bryant University and offensive coordinator at Union College in New York.Taylor’s hires give the coaching a much younger look than previous Bengals staffs. Taylor is 35, Callahan and Casey are 34, and Martin is 35. Turner is 54.