Owners OK change to allow league office to help officials with replay

— -- CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- NFL officials will get a little extra help this year in handling the administration of the instant replay rules during games.

NFL owners voted Tuesday at their spring meetings to adopt a couple of changes to their instant replay rules. The changes will allow the league office in New York to assist on-field officials with the application of rules, "including appropriate assessment of penalty yardage, proper down and status of the game clock."

This is a change the league tried last year in the postseason, and owners believed it worked well. Dean Blandino -- the NFL's vice president of officiating -- and other members of the league's officiating department can communicate directly with officials during games to help them assess the proper yardage following a pass interference call, for example, and can stop a game to ensure that the proper amount of time remains on the clock.

The Baltimore Ravens had initially proposed a significant expansion of the number and types of plays that could be reviewed, but they withdrew that proposal last week and the owners instead adopted a more modest alteration of the rule.

The owners meetings continued Tuesday with a late-morning discussion about upcoming international games in Mexico, the United Kingdom and possibly China. In the afternoon, owners were scheduled to hear proposals and vote on upcoming Super Bowl sites.