NFL owners have tabled a proposal for an alternative to the onside
kick with a fourth-and-15 play and approved testing expanded use of
video replay in the preseason to aid in officiating.
On a conference call Thursday, the 32 owners also increased the
number of players who may be designated for return from the injured
list during a season from two to three.
Also passed was making permanent the expansion of automatic replay
reviews to include scoring plays and turnovers negated by a foul,
and any successful or unsuccessful extra points.
The competition committee’s recommendation to expand defenseless
player protection to a kickoff or punt returner who is in
possession of the ball but has not had time to avoid or ward off
contact of an opponent also was approved. So was preventing teams
from manipulating the game clock by committing multiple dead-ball
fouls while the clock is running – an issue that came up several
times in 2019, including during the postseason.
Using video replay for pass interference calls was dropped after a
one-year experiment that led to more uncertainty than clarity. Many
people in the league cited the presence of too much subjectivity in
the reviews.
Tabled was a proposal to have a booth judge serve as an eighth
official on each crew and call for reviews on certain plays. But
the league will experiment with additional review options during
the preseason, which is scheduled to begin on Aug. 6 with the Pro
Football Hall of Fame game between Pittsburgh and Dallas.
The preseason schedule, of course, is an uncertainty – as is the
NFL’s regular-season – because of the coronavirus pandemic. But the
league has stated it plans to play everything as scheduled while
making contingency plans that could include no fans at games,
moving or delaying games.
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