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Pass interference replay not expected for 2020 season

Pass interference review's best days look like they'll be behind it.

The NFL's competition committee continues to discuss rules ahead of its still-on-schedule meeting at the end of May -- when votes will be taken -- and pass interference replay almost certainly will not be extended, NFL Network's Judy Battista reported, according to one person familiar with conversations.

Pass interference review was introduced last season for the first time in a one-year trial approved by owners in a 31-1 vote. The decision came just months after Los Angeles Rams cornerback Nickell Robey-Coleman hit Saints receiver Tommylee Lewis early on a third-down play late in the fourth quarter of the NFC Championship Game, a contest the Rams ultimately came back to win in overtime. No penalty for defensive pass interference was called on the play.

Pass interference review was a point of contention for players and coaches throughout its initial season of use, as many expressed frustration with the lack of clarity and consistency on calls and a hesitancy at the beginning of the season to overturn decisions made on the field. Seen as a necessary and positive change to the NFL's rules in early 2019, the ability to review pass interference -- which required a second officiating of each play reviewed by officials -- appears to be an experiment likely to be left in the last decade.