Bengals owner explains lone vote against pass interference replays

The NFL's move to allow instant replay reviews for pass interference calls earned near-unanimous support from team owners. The one "no" vote out of 32 came from the Cincinnati Bengals' Mike Brown.

"The reason that we are against it is that it interrupts the game," Brown told a small group of reporters, including ESPN's Katherine Terrell, on Wednesday.

"It changes the character of the game, in my mind. I think it's in some ways sort of odd to see people all sitting there waiting for somebody in New York to tell them it is or isn't. I'd rather just play the game."

The new rule, instituted on a one-year trial, will allow coaches' challenges and booth reviews to cover both offensive and defensive pass interference penalties. For his part, Brown is concerned with making judgment calls reviewable.

"I don't think that's good for the game. It is the fact that there's going to be officiating error, but it's also the fact that instant replay doesn't always correct it. It actually compounds the problem on occasion," Brown said.

"There is no answer that, 'Well, we're going to have instant replay and there won't be any more bad pass interference calls.' I don't think so, but we'll see."

The Bengals were called for defensive pass interference a league-low four times in 2018 and benefited from the penalty being called on the opposition nine times, according to NFLpenalties.com. Cincinnati also didn't commit a single offensive pass interference penalty last season.

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