Kentucky Football Players Leave Practice in Support of Social Justice Protests

Players on the Kentucky football team decided to skip practice Thursday in support of recent social justice protests, a UK spokesperson told the Louisville Courier-Journal.

Instead of practice, the players chose to meet and "discuss more ways to promote their influence and be a part of effective change," per a UK spokesperson.

The school said in a post shared on social media that, "We stand together as a UK football family."

"United to promote influence to the public, to learn, understand, and embrace our racial, cultural and spiritual differences and similarities," the school said in a statement. "We are a diverse team and we want our voices and actions to influence the community to make a positive change."

According to Sports Illustrated's Ross Dellenger, Mississippi State football players also decided not to practice Thursday, joining Boston College and South Florida in player-led protests. A number of NFL teams also altered their practice schedules on Thursday in a show of protest.

The decisions by the Wildcats players comes just over 24 hours removed from players on the Milwaukee Bucks decided to sit out Game 5 vs. the Magic in support of protests against Jacob Blake. Blake, a 29-year-old Black man, was shot by police multiple times in the back Sunday in Kenosha, Wis.

A number of MLB games have also been postponed in protest and the WNBA players are sitting out of Thursday's games for the second consecutive day in what they are calling a "Day of Reflection, a Day of Informed Action and Mobilization."