Patriots coach Bill Belichick screams at replacement official Rodney Russell after a first-quarter call Sunday night in Baltimore.
The third Sunday of the NFL’s regular season brought another round of complaints from players, coaches and fans about the officiating being done by the replacement referees as the regular refs continued to be locked out by the league. On Sunday, the NFL players’ union sent an open letter to team owners calling for an end to the lockout that began four months ago when the regular officials’ contract expired. Meanwhile, the Associated Press reported that the league and the locked-out officials met for talks yesterday, with it unclear whether progress was made towards reaching a deal or when there’d be more negotiations.