Dallas Cowboys and owner Jerry Jones kneel before anthem on Monday Night Football

The Dallas Cowboys, led by team owner Jerry Jones, made a show of unity before their game against the Arizona Cardinals on Monday by kneeling before the national anthem.

Week 3 games in the NFL have seen teams and players kneeling en masse after President Trump said last week players should be fired if they protested against perceived racial injustice in the United States by not standing for the national anthem.

The Dallas players all kneeled alongside Jones and his family near the 50-yard line before a giant American flag was unfurled, drawing some boos from the Cardinals fans.

With arms linked, they rose together just before the singing of the anthem at the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale.

Jones has been a staunch supporter of President Donald Trump and it was unclear if his team would protest during the anthem, as teams across the NFL did on Sunday.

"I hope that I'm clear and I hope that our team is clear: We want to respect the flag. Make no mistake about that," Jones said.

"Nothing that we've done, nothing that we did tonight says anything other than that. We also want to as a complete team, as players and an organisation, be able to, whenever we can, demonstrate that unity is important and equality is important.

"That's what I'm so proud of these guys for, they did both and did it in a way when people really stop and think about it, makes a lot of sense."

The Cardinals all gathered together on the goal line as a team, some of them locking arms, during the anthem. The team were joined by Cardinals owner Michael Bidwell and his family, as well as general manager Steve Keim.

The Cowboys went on to beat the Cardinals 28-17.

Hit play on the video above to watch the entire Dallas Cowboys team and owner Jerry Jones before the national anthem.

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