Hue to lead Kap workout; at least 13 teams to go
Stephen A. Smith says 22 teams will attend Colin Kaepernick’s workout and he sees him getting a job within the next two weeks. (1:54)
Former NFL head coach Hue Jackson will lead the drills during quarterback Colin Kaepernick‘s scheduled workout in Atlanta on Saturday, and former NFL head coach Joe Philbin will be in attendance to assist, the league announced Thursday.
The NFL said 11 teams have committed to attend: the Arizona Cardinals, Atlanta Falcons, Cleveland Browns, Denver Broncos, Detroit Lions, Miami Dolphins, New England Patriots, New York Giants, New York Jets, Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Washington Redskins. The league said it expected additional teams to commit.
Sources told ESPN that the Dallas Cowboys and Seattle Seahawks also will go.
Jackson told ESPN’s Josina Anderson that he “just found out about it” on Thursday.
“The NFL asked me to do it. I’m excited about doing it for Colin and the league. As far as I know right now, Colin is still attending,” he said.
The league reiterated that it would send video of the workout and an interview with Kaepernick to all 32 teams.
Kaepernick, 32, has been out of football since 2016, the year he began protesting police brutality and racial injustice by kneeling during the pregame national anthem.
The NFL will not provide Kaepernick’s representatives with a list of executives and coaches who will attend the workout, sources told ESPN’s Adam Schefter on Wednesday.
Sources earlier Wednesday told ESPN that the NFL had agreed to give the Kaepernick camp a list of attendees. However, an NFL source later told ESPN that the league never promised to provide that list.
The NFL informed its clubs Tuesday that the private workout would be held for Kaepernick on Saturday in Atlanta. Sources previously told ESPN that the league office said none of the 32 teams had been made aware of the workout before Tuesday’s memo was sent. When Kaepernick’s representatives asked whether a team or teams had asked for the workout, the NFL league office said, “We can’t tell you that,” the reps explained.
Carolina Panthers safety Eric Reid, who was the first player to join Kaepernick in taking a knee during the anthem while both were with the San Francisco 49ers, said Wednesday that “it feels disingenuous” that the NFL would schedule a workout for the quarterback on Saturday.
“I’ll believe it when I see it,” Reid said Wednesday. “At this point, it feels like a PR stunt.”
NFL workouts typically take place on Tuesdays because head coaches and general managers can attend more easily. On Saturday, almost half of the NFL teams will be traveling to games, and most of the rest of the coaches and players will be heading to their team hotels to prepare for games the next day.
Philadelphia Eagles safety Malcolm Jenkins said Thursday he also was skeptical.
“I really hope it’s a serious shot for him to get back in the league,” Jenkins said. “I think he deserves to be in the league. For the last three years, he has unjustly not had a job. But based on all of the things that have led us to this point, it leaves me a little skeptical of the motivations behind it. But I think like anybody, we’re just all waiting to see.”
ESPN’s Tim McManus contributed to this report.