Hours before the first football Sunday of the NFL season even kicked off, President Trump launched a Twitter blitz on the sport’s TV ratings amid his ongoing criticism of the league and some of its more outspoken players.

“Wow, NFL first game ratings are way down over an already really bad last year comparison,” Trump tweeted Sunday morning. “Viewership declined 13%, the lowest in over a decade.”

Trump was referring to Thursday night’s season-opening tilt between the Atlanta Falcons and the defending champ Philadelphia Eagles, viewed by 19 million fans, according to Deadline Hollywood.

The match’s 13 percent ratings drop versus last season’s opener marks the second straight year with a double-digit dip, and the lowest numbers for a season opener since 2009.

“If the players stood proudly for our Flag and Anthem, and it is all shown on broadcast, maybe ratings could come back?” Trump’s tweet continued. “Otherwise worse!”

Throughout his time in office, Trump has waged a war of words against the NFL and players who take a knee during the pre-game national anthem as a protest against racial injustice.

Just days ahead of this season’s opener, the firestorm flared up again with the release of a Nike ad prominently featuring former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick, the poster child of the protests.

“What was Nike thinking?” Trump simply tweeted after the ad’s release.

Only one player, Eagles defensive end Michael Bennett, sat out the anthem in Thursday night’s game.

A handful of players around the league joined in on the protests during Sunday’s early slate of games.

San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Marquise Goodwin stood with his right arm raised, fist clenched, during the anthem ahead of his team’s match-up with the New Orleans Saints.

In Miami, Dolphins wideouts Kenny Stills and Albert Wilson kneeled before their bout with the Tennessee Titans.

With Post Wires