INDIANAPOLIS -- Rams coach Jeff Fisher is a key figure in the NFL's Competition Committee and the group's most vocal member. Following a postseason of a controversial calls and one DeflateGate, Fisher knows the committee will have no shortage of talking points when they next convene later this spring.
The first question for Fisher at the NFL Scouting Combine on Friday was about ball inflation, and whether he anticipated game ball protocol to be under discussion with the committee.
"Yes, we do. Every year we have Wilson come in, and we discuss the balls, and we discuss gauges, and we discuss that," he said. "I would submit that we probably won't have discussions until everything's been resolved at the league office level."
Instant replay will also be a focal point, according to the coach. Fisher said the committee received multiple proposals on the expansion of replay, the largest number of proposals he can remember.
"A number of those proposals involve including penalties," Fisher explained. "That will all be discussed. We're just scratching the surface on it now. We'll look at it detail. To comment at this point would be very premature, but that will probably be one of the major topics as we resume our meetings ... next week."
Fisher expressed some trepidation about penalty replays.
"But you have two standards. To me, that's the biggest concern," he said. "You have an on-the-field, full-speed, bang-bang call by the official -- let's say pass interference. Then you're gonna go to replay, and you're gonna go frame by frame by frame whether it is or not. I'm not so sure that's where we want to go with our game right now."
We asked Fisher in the hallway of Lucas Oil Stadium his first thought when he saw Dez Bryant's fourth-down catch get overturned in the NFC divisional playoffs.
"I knew we were going to have some discussions," he said. "But that's not the first time that play's been discussed or been controversial. It's just unfortunate it was a playoff game."
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