NFL vice president of officiating Dean Blandino says he's not surprised by the increase in penalties this preseason, and he doesn't anticipate the trend lasting into the regular season.
"We expected it. I think there's an adjustment period for our officials, for the coaches and our players," Blandino said Thursday night on NFL Network's NFL Total Access Postgame. "When the regular season rolls around, I think everybody will be on the same page and I think you'll see those foul totals go down."
There have been a lot of hard-to-watch games in the preseason, with entire quarters engulfed by yellow.
Blandino said he wants to avoid slowing down the sport, citing a desire to get closer to historical norms of 15-16 penalties per game.
"That's the level that it's been and I think once everybody gets through this adjustment period I think that's where we'll see the penalties because we certainly don't want to delay the game but we also have to call the violations that are there," Blandino said.
*The "Around the League Podcast" AFC Season Preview is here. *
