The NFL officially scheduled replacement officials through Week 3 and has tentative plans through "at least" Week 5, an NFL official with knowledge of the league's plans told NFL.com and NFL Network's Steve Wyche.
The NFL's regular officials are locked out, and replacements worked the preseason and the first week of the regular season. The replacements now will be on the field for at least the next two weeks and possibly longer.
In early June, the league locked out the officials, who are part-time NFL employees, after their collective bargaining agreement expired. The NFL Referees Association and the league met for three days at the beginning of September before talks collapsed.
The NFL and the referees' union, which covers more than 120 on-field officials, are at odds over salary, retirement benefits and operational issues. The NFL has said its offer includes annual pay increases that could earn an experienced official more than $200,000 annually by 2018. The NFLRA has disputed the value of the proposal, insisting it ultimately would reduce their compensation.
Replacements were used in 2001, but only for one week of the regular season before a deal was reached.
This year's replacements have had some errors, particularly late in the Arizona Cardinals' 20-16 victory Sunday when the Seattle Seahawks were awarded an extra timeout. The officiating crew admitted its mistake after the game.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
