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Miami Dolphins receiver Kenny Stills vacationed this offseason in Africa Jason Sanders Jersey , led several teammates on a training trip to Nebraska and returned to find the NFL's national anthem debate again at peak volume.

"We've got to clean up how things are looking," Stills said following the Dolphins' first training camp practice Thursday.

The sixth-year pro is part of the debate because he kneeled during the anthem the past two seasons and has been vocal discussing social injustice issues that inspired the protest.

Stills would prefer the league had no anthem policy so players could do as they wished, and said he'll wait until a policy is set to decide what he'll do during the anthem this season.

"At some point before the season starts, the league and the players association are going to come to an agreement," he said. "And at that point I'll have a better idea what I'll be doing."

Last week the league and union issued a joint statement saying the two sides are still working on a resolution. Their statement came hours after The Associated Press reported Dolphins players who protest on the field during the anthem could be suspended for up to four games under a team policy issued last week.

The Dolphins subsequently issued a statement saying all options regarding the team's policy remain open.

On Thursday, coach Adam Gase said he doubted a Miami player would be suspended for protesting during the anthem.

"I mean, if anybody knew actual rules in the NFL, good luck suspending somebody," Gase said. "It takes about 5,000 things before anybody can get suspended by a club."

Gase said he doesn't see anthem issue as potentially divisive for his team.

"I think they do a good job of when issues come up, they get together and hammer it out," Gase said. "These guys aren't shy about speaking up. They've done a good job of making sure, as a group, they talk through things."

Three-time Pro Bowl defensive lineman Jurrell Casey also plans to continue protesting Tony Jefferson Jersey , but wants people to quit seeing this as an anthem issue. The Tennessee Titans lineman said he will continue protesting by raising his fist at the end of the anthem.

"The biggest thing that we have right now is the way the justice system is set up for minorities," said Casey, whose wife is an attorney. "And that's just what the whole battle is about, trying to bring light to enlighten the things that's going on around the minority community."

The league hasn't been able to reach an agreement. On Wednesday, Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said he'll insist his players stand for the anthem.

Stills' reaction to Jones' comments?

"I wouldn't expect anything different," Stills said.

Stills said he hadn't spoken much with Dolphins owner Stephen Ross about the issue since last year. Ross didn't attend the first day of training camp.

Stills tuned out the anthem debate this offseason by traveling to Victoria Falls, Kruger National Park and Cape Town, where he learned about African culture, went on safaris and tried bungee jumping. More recently, he spent time in Lincoln, Nebraska, with other Dolphins wideouts and a receivers coach he has known since he was in the 10th grade.

"The anthem stuff was becoming a really quiet, quiet topic," Stills said.

No more. Defensive end Robert Quinn Justin Ellis Jersey , who protested during the anthem while with the Rams last year, was asked following his first Dolphins practice what the league should do about a policy.

"I'll just say one thing: It's called freedom of speech," he said. "Simple as that."

Quinn, Stills and others have been targets of criticism for their protests, which they believe have been misconstrued as unpatriotic.

But Stills was nominated by teammates last year for the NFL's Walter Payton Man of the Year Award, a reflection of his standing in locker room. His latest community project is with the nationwide OK Program, which mentors young black men.

"I think I've done a good job of trying to figure out ways to continue to use my voice and platform for the right things," Stills said, "and put the messaging back in the right direction."

CHICAGO — If Chicago Cubs manager Joe Maddon had his druthers, his team wouldn’t have played a pair of games Tuesday.

But as the Cubs head into Wednesday’s series finale against the defending National League champion Los Angeles Dodgers, Maddon certainly won’t complain about having the opportunity to claim a series victory.

How they had to do it, however, is a different story.

The Cubs earned a doubleheader split with a 2-1 nightcap victory after Albert Almora, Jr. Will Redmond Jersey , delivered a 10th-inning single. The win came after the Cubs blew a ninth-inning lead in Tuesday’s first game, which the Dodgers rallied to win, 4-3.

Maddon expressed his displeasure with the split doubleheader format ahead of Wednesday’s matinee series finale. After Monday’s game was postponed due to the combination of inclement weather and electrical issues with Wrigley Field’s lights, Tuesday proved to be a long day for everyone involved.

“I don’t like it,” Maddon said Tuesday, according to the Chicago Tribune. “I don’t think it’s a good idea. To be here for a noon game and then a 7 o’clock game, that’s wrong. I don’t think there’s one player, manager, coach who thinks it’s a good idea.”

Maddon added: “I’m not crying. It’s just true. So it works for both sides. The Dodgers have to do the same thing. I’m not just talking about us. I’d just prefer a different method over the split doubleheader to appease when the game was rained out like it was (Monday) night.”

Maddon voiced his opinion ahead of Tuesday’s rescheduled series opener in which Cubs reliever Justin Wilson surrendered a two-out, two-run single in the ninth inning. Wilson pitched in place of closer Brandon Morrow, who was unavailable for Tuesday’s doubleheader due to back spasms. The Cubs didn’t make Morrow’s condition public until after Tuesday’s first game when Maddon said he was holding out Morrow for precautionary reasons. Morrow told reporters he considered his availability to be day-to-day.

After offense came at a premium in Tuesday’s second game, Wednesday’s showdown has all the makings of a pitcher’s duel.

Jon Lester (8-2, 2.28 ERA) takes the mound for the series finale looking to extend what has been a successful first half of the season. Lester has won four straight starts and has only allowed a pair of runs in three starts in June. Lester is 2-3 in seven career starts against the Dodgers.

The Dodgers will counter with Ross Stripling, who will take the mound with eyes set on his seventh straight victory. Stripling (6-1 Laurent Duvernay-Tardif Jersey , 1.76 ERA) hasn’t lost since April 30 and has struck out at least six in each of his last seven starts. Over his last six starts, Stripling has struck out 47 and walked just two.

Stripling, who will make his first career start against the Cubs on Wednesday, has taken over the role as the Dodgers ace in the place of injured Clayton Kershaw. His strong start has made him a strong contender for a place on the National League All-Star team.

“You never know if you’ll have another chance in a six-, eight-, 10-year career to make an All-Star game,” Stripling said recently, according to the Loss Angeles Times. “I want to go out there and do my best to try and get there because it would be pretty cool.”

Stripling has the vote of teammate Matt Kemp.

“He needs to be in there,” Kemp said, according to the Times. “That boy is pitching his butt off. It’s fun to watch.”
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