49ers' Shanahan: I understand why players want to protest, speak up

San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan isn't going to stand in the way of any of his players protesting.

While general manager John Lynch called player protests "divisive" on Wednesday, his head coach said he would fine with his guys protesting and completely understands the motive to do so.

"I'm not going to tell anyone what to do or not to do," Shanahan told reporters Thursday, according to David Facillo of Niners Nation. "I see stuff on TV, also. And things that are going on in this country and this world. And I think anybody who sees that stuff and doesn't get the feeling that they'd like to do something about it to end that stuff, I think something's wrong with you. I completely understand why guys want to do stuff and want to speak up."

Shanahan said that he plans to stand for the anthem and that he's too focused on the game at hand to get out of his usual coaching routine, but from a player's point of view, he can see why a protests makes sense.

"For a player, if they see that differently and they want to do something about that, I completely understand their intentions and why," said Shanahan. "Because I think everyone can agree there's lots of stuff that's pretty sad to see right now."

Shanahan said it doesn't matter to him if a team protest is planned or not, and clarified that he has no knowledge of a planned display by the 49ers without Colin Kaepernick on the roster. Shanahan never specifically mentioned which injustices he supports protesting, referencing "all this stuff" instead.

"I think everyone gets kinda what's going on to a degree and understands what's very wrong about all this stuff," said Shanahan. "And I think everyone wants to do stuff to help. And everyone wants to make a change. I'm not going to sit and tell people how to do that. That's up to them. That's why our country is the best country. And if someone does decide to do that, I'll talk to anybody about anything."

The 49ers had several members of the team join Kaepernick in protest last season. Safety Eric Reid was one of his teammates to take a knee, but has said he will not continue to do so this season.