Shaquille O'Neal spoke to the New Orleans Saints during the call in which Drew Brees issued an apology for his comments about disrespecting the American flag earlier this week.

"About two weeks ago, I was contacted to speak to the Saints players today," O'Neal said.

"Then, this happened. I'm not going to get into because coach (Sean) Payton doesn't really want us to get into it, but I was on the call today when Drew apologized to his teammates, and most of his teammates accepted his apology. They said, 'Drew, we know your character. We know you stepped into some stuff that you can’t get out of, but guess what? We want you to do more, more positive things and less talking.' And they all said, 'We accept your apology.' ... He made a mistake."

Malcolm Jenkins has not spoken publicly since issuing a strong rebuke of Brees on Wednesday, but O'Neal said Jenkins was the first to accept Brees' apology.