Miami Dolphins receiver Kenny Stills vacationed this offseason in Africa [url=http://www.thejaguarsfootballauthentic.com/ronnie-harrison-jersey-authentic]Youth Ronnie Harrison Jersey[/url] , 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 [url=http://www.brownscheapshop.com/cheap-authentic-baker-mayfield-jersey]Cheap Baker Mayfield Jersey[/url] ," 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, 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 [url=http://www.dolphinsauthorizedshops.com/authentic-daniel-kilgore-jersey]Dolphins Daniel Kilgore Jersey[/url] , 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, 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 [url=http://tampabaylightningteamshop.com/authentic-ryan-mcdonagh-jersey]Authentic Ryan McDonagh Jersey[/url] , 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."

Former NHL coach Dave Tippett is expanding his responsibilities with the group looking to put an expansion team in Seattle.

The former coach of the Arizona Coyotes and Dallas Stars has signed on as senior adviser for Seattle Hockey Partners LLC. Tippett was already working under President and CEO Tod Leiweke on infrastructure projects two-plus years before a franchise could begin play. It’s his first job since mutually parting ways with the Coyotes a year ago and taking last season off.

”You’re always trying to find new challenges in life,” Tippett said by phone Monday, when his new role was first reported by the Seattle Times. ”I’ve been fortunate to be a player a long time, I was a coach and manager in the minors and head coach a long time in the NHL. Challenges are exciting. Everybody wants that in their life to do something different sometimes, and this is one of those times for me.”

Seattle is in the middle of the expansion process with the goal of renovating KeyArena and starting up for the 2020-21 season. NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman says the league’s board of governors could vote to approve a 32nd franchise as soon as this fall but has emphasized there is no specific timetable.

Tippett, who turns 57 in August, jumped at this opportunity when approached by Oak View Group CEO Tim Leiweke about the possibility of working for potential owners David Bonderman and Jerry Bruckheimer. His eldest daughter, her husband and Tippett’s three grandchildren live in nearby Bremerton [url=http://www.losangelesdodgersteamshop.com/authentic-julio-urias-jersey]Julio Urias Jersey[/url] , Washington.

That family connection to the Pacific Northwest helps, even if an office job is different for someone who has coached at some level for more than two decades. He has a hand in helping with renovations, the design of a possible practice facility, the efforts to line up an affiliate in the American Hockey League and the beginnings of what the front office might look like.

”There’s lots of things that go in before you start selecting players,” Tippett said. ”Just lots of little things from the hockey side that I’ll be involved in, just helping to try to get the thing up and moving.”

Tippett knew Tim Leiweke during his time as a Los Angeles Kings assistant from 1999-2002. He coached the Stars for six seasons and then the Coyotes for eight, taking each team to the Western Conference final.

While this job so far mirrors the one former NHL forward Murray Craven took with the expansion Vegas Golden Knights, Tippett could assume a bigger role at some point for Seattle and could be in line to be its first coach.

”I’m not going to rule anything out,” Tippett said. ”But right now this is intriguing to me. ”Very few people get an opportunity to be involved with a group to start a team from the ground up and when that opportunity kind of got put in front of me, it was very exciting. So I’m looking forward to trying to build something that could be a great franchise.”

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