Marshawn Lynch appeared to stage a silent protest in his first game back to the NFL, seating during the national anthem.

Photos show Lynch, who suited up but did not play, sitting on a cooler while holding a banana during the anthem.

"[Lynch] said, 'This is something I've done for 11 years. It's not a form of anything other than me being myself,'" Jack Del Rio said. "I said, 'So you understand how I feel. I very strongly believe in standing for the national anthem, but I'm going to respect you as a man. You do your thing, and we'll do ours.' So that's a non-issue for me."

Lynch was not in the NFL during Colin Kaepernick's kneeling protest against racism and police brutality last season.