Farrell: Red Sox 'would fully support' player's decision to protest

With the Oakland Athletics' Bruce Maxwell becoming the first MLB player to protest during the national anthem, players and managers around the league are being faced with questions about how teams should approach the delicate issue, and Boston Red Sox manager John Farrell weighed in Sunday.

"I follow it closely," Farrell told Tim Britton of the Providence Journal before Sunday's game against the Cincinnati Reds. "As it relates to our players, if they were to choose to express themselves in the way we've seen other athletes in other sports, we would fully support them.

"We would have their back as an organization if that's the expression they chose to do; it's their constitutional right.

"I can't say we've held meeting about it," the Red Sox skipper continued, alluding to the way Maxwell approached the Athletics prior to his protest.

"At this point, I'm not aware any one of our players would. I'm aware what Maxwell did in Oakland. He had a meeting with the team and he didn't want to put anyone in an uncomfortable position, didn't want to catch anyone by surprise. I respect that. We haven't had that type of setting here."