NFL has opened door for pass-interference to be reviewed
CHICAGO – No one really knows how this is going to go. It’s this way every year. The NFL embarks on some highprofile rule adjustment, and players and coaches wade into the water with some sense of hope but plenty of trepidation.
This year it’s about pass interference, a rule that’s the same in 2019 as it has been for ages. But there’s a twist. This year, for the first time, pass interference penalties will be reviewable. Same goes for plays on which interference was not called but might have occurred.
Was there illegal contact before the ball arrived? Was it clear and obvious? Is now the time to roll the dice on a protest?
Coaches will have one hand on that red challenge flag. And in the league office in New York, senior vice president of officiating Al Riveron and vice president of replay Russell Yurk will remain ready to play judge and jury with the benefit of frame-by-frame millisecond analysis. Away we go. Said Bears cornerback Prince Amukamara: “Who knows how this is going to go? There’s always going to be some uncertainty.”
As part of the annual mission to educate players and coaches on new rules, wrinkles and points of emphasis, the league’s officiating crews are popping in at training camps across the country. This week in Bourbonnais, referee Adrian Hill and his crew visited with the Bears to explain what’s ahead on a number of rules-related topics.
After hearing from Hill and his team on the pass-interference topic, Amukamara came to this conclusion: “What I took away from the meeting – and I’m not mad about it, I get it – was that this is an offensive league. It is. I can’t even waste my energy talking to the refs. It’s never going to go the defense’s way. That’s just how it is. We just need to play smarter.”