Dontari Poe has not talked to Jerry Jones but still plans to kneel for anthem

[Rowdy]

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Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said earlier this month he would show “grace” in deciding the team’s national anthem stance.

Jones previously has prohibited players from protesting during the national anthem, and the Cowboys are one of the few NFL teams never to have had a player sit, kneel or raise a fist during the pregame tradition. Even Robert Quinn and Michael Bennett, who protested with other teams, stood for the anthem in 2019 during their one season in Dallas.

Regardless what Jones says or his teammates decide to do, nose tackle Dontari Poe has made up his mind.

Poe said in July he planned to kneel, and he reiterated his stance Sunday.

“Yeah, I do still plan on kneeling, but we haven’t had the conversation yet,” Poe said, via Clarence Hill of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. “But we had a team meeting where [Jones] kind of expressed a couple of feelings, and he always told us he had an open door for us to talk to him at anytime, so I look forward to taking advantage of that and just getting in his ear and seeing how he’s feeling about it.”

Jones said Friday on 105.3 The Fan that Hall of Famers Michael Irvin and Emmitt Smith can talk to the team “about the way that I am” and how he has supported players.

“We’ve got each other’s back,” Jones said, “and I think that’s what I said the other day when I was talking to everybody. I got their back. Everybody knows where I stand on the anthem. Everybody knows where the Cowboys stand. But I’ve got everybody’s back around here, too, and we’ll work through it as it comes.”