The NFL started its replacement referee odyssey Thursday night for the final weekend of preseason games, including the Bengals' game against Indianapolis at Paul Brown Stadium. The replacements were hardly noticeable and not involved in any more contested calls than regular game officials, but some players complained the game was “loosely played and loosely called.”

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Replacement ref Aster Sizemore tosses the coin to start the game. (Michael E. Keating photo) 600 | 800 | 1024

        The seven-man crew, headed by league supervisor of officials, called only five penalties.

        “If you don't call anything, (players) are going to keep doing it until you do,” Bengals linebacker Adrian Ross said.

        Both Bengals coach Dick LeBeau and Indianapolis coach Jim Mora said the referees did a good job, but Corey Dillon, Bengals running back, said, “They weren't really making good calls. Hopefully, they (the regular refs) can get it worked out.”

        Six replacement officials from college football and the NFL's European league were joined for the game by Jim Daopoulos, a former NFL official who is one of six supervisors of officials.

        Players and coaches are concerned about safety, wondering whether replacement refs will miss some calls that would endanger players.

        “Safety is a concern,” said Bengals cornerback Tom Carter, the team's players union representative. “We want to make sure our quarterbacks are protected. A lot of plays might go on that veterans (officials) would see.”

        Talks between the league and the NFL Referees Association broke off Tuesday, and the league has locked out the regular game officials.

        On Wednesday, replacements were reportedly offered four-year guarantees at $2,000 a game.

        The referees' union wants raises that put game pay in line with that of other major professional sports.

        Referee union officials met with players union representatives earlier this year and asked for support, Mr. Carter said. The players union sides with the referees union but will not stop working.

        “Everybody would like to have the best guys in there,” Mr. Carter said.

        The NFL did not make game officials available to the media to discuss the replacement situation. The league did, however, release the replacements' names and colleges attended.

        They were: Aster Sizemore, Virginia Tech; Jim Mullendore, West Virginia; Thomas Hofman, Aquinas; Gary Wise, Kentucky; Burney Jenkins, Georgia Tech; and Greg Brock, Clemson.

        There was some confusion on a couple of plays. In the second quarter, the officials announced that a too-many-men-on-the-field penalty against the Bengals was 15 yards before correcting it to 5 yards.

        They also missed an obvious holding call by a Colts' lineman against Bengals linebacker Brian Simmons.

Bengals lose Mitchell for six weeks Colts 23, Bengals 17 Replacement referees get mixed reviews Bengals run up rushing stats Bengals-Colts statistics Bengals' Barndt charged with DUI

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