As the Players Coalition promotes social activism and its $89-million partnership with the NFL, its core members all believe that Eric Reid and Colin Kaepernick, both formerly of the San Francisco 49ers, are being blackballed for their on-field protests from 2016-2017.

That's what New England Patriots safety Devin McCourty said at a recent criminal justice reform symposium at Harvard Law School, according to Sporting News' David Steele.

"Whether it's about Kaep or whether it's about Eric Reid, all the guys in the Coalition have said the same thing, that those guys deserve a job," McCourty said, echoing statements he made on ESPN's "Outside the Lines" earlier in the week. "And we truly believe, like everyone else, it's because of them being outspoken."

New Orleans Saints linebacker Demario Davis and Philadelphia Eagles safety Malcolm Jenkins, an unofficial leader for the Coalition during its formation as a nonprofit in 2017, affirmed the same stance, according to Steele. Their thoughts aligned with those of Reid, who said earlier in March that his lack of job offers in free agency had everything to do with NFL owners disliking his hand in protests alongside Kaepernick.

That, for what it's worth, runs contrary to the thoughts of Oakland Raiders head coach Jon Gruden, who reportedly said Tuesday that he thinks Kaepernick will be in training camp with a team "soon."

McCourty and the Coalition, which was founded to address the social injustices that players like Reid and Kaepernick began protesting during pre-game national anthems in 2016, have emphasized that their focus has turned to working in cooperation with the NFL, but talk about the apparent shunning of the ex-49ers has not ceased, with even new 49ers player Richard Sherman suggesting that "legal action" could be taken in the event Reid does not find a new team for the 2018 season.

Kaepernick, of course, has not played since 2016, when he began kneeling during anthems to protest police brutality and racial injustice in America. Jenkins and other members of the Coalition have since stopped their own forms of protest as they partner with the NFL to devote funding to charities related to criminal justice reform and other causes.