NFL approves use of replay assistance to correct missed penalties if replacement refs are used

The NFL is hoping to avoid another "Fail Mary" situation. With theleague and the referees union at an impasse,the NFL voted Tuesday to approve a one-year policy that would assist replacement refs to correct "clear and obvious"missed calls during a game, Yahoo Sports' Jori Epstein confirmed.

Also Tuesday, theNFL approved a separate policythat allows the replay command center in New York to consult with on-field officials if it believes a player could be disqualified from a game due to a missed call. The approved amendment also allows the replay center to put flags down on plays too, which was not part of the original proposal. This policy applies whether the usual refs or replacement refs are on the field.

Additionally, the NFL approved a rule change regarding onside kicks, which are now legal to declare at any time during the game. Previously, only trailing teams were allowed to declare them, a rule enacted as part of the new Dynamic Kickoff format implemented in 2024.

Details on NFL's new rule assisting potential replacement referees

The policy on assisting replacement referees, which team owners approved Tuesday, allows the NFL's Officiating Commander Center in New York toadvise the replacement refsif a possible penalty was missed. While replay assist isapproved for certain penaltiesalready, the new policy would allow the NFL command center to weigh in on "missed roughing the passer or intentional grounding penalty," per ABC4.com.

In previous instances, replay assist on roughing the passer plays or intentional grounding could only be used if a foul was called on the play. Under the new policy, replay assist would be able to weigh in if officials missed those calls in the moment. This policy only applies if replacement refs are used in 2026.

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The policy — and its approval — was likely the result of the "Fail Mary" fiasco back in 2012. That year, the NFL used replacement refs during the first couple weeks of the regular season. Frustration over the replacement refs came to a head during a Sept. 24 game between the Seattle Seahawks and the Green Bay Packers, when a controversial call resulted in the Seahawks beating the Packers on the final play.

The play, and its impact, likely led to both the NFL and the referees union coming back to the bargaining table and hammering out a deal. Two days after the "Fail Mary," a deal was reached, ending the referee lockout.

The possibility of the NFL once again turning to replacement refs in 2026 seems high after negotiations between both sides stalled in late March. The league's collective-bargaining agreement with the referees union ends May 31, giving both sides two more months to hammer out a new deal.

In another attempt to avoid a "Fail Mary" situation, the NFL will reportedly beginonboarding possible replacement refs in Mayso they have more time to be trained and ready for the 2026 NFL season, per Epstein.

New NFL rule might've been inspired by DK Metcalf situation

Meanwhile, the policy on league personnel consulting officials regarding disqualifications — which is not contingent on replacement officials — could be a response to the DK Metcalf situation from last December.

During a Week 16 game against the Detroit Lions,Metcalf appeared to throw a punch at a fanin the front row. While the altercation was captured on the broadcast, officials did not see it since it occurred on the sideline. Metcalf was allowed to keep playing in the contest, which theSteelers won in dramatic fashion. Metcalf, however, was suspended by the NFL for the final two regular-season games after the league reviewed the footage of his confrontation with the fan.

Under the new policy, the NFL command center could — presumably — contact on-field officials and let them know about a situation like the Metcalf altercation shortly after it happens, possibly resulting in his ejection.

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NFL approves use of replay assistance to correct missed penalties if replacement refs are used

The NFL is hoping to avoid another "Fail Mary" situation. With theleague and the referees union at an impasse,t...

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Bad weather is back in the US forecast as April begins

After a brief break, severe weather is returning to the forecast as April begins — mainly across the central U.S., with severe thunderstorms, tornadoes, and flooding downpours all possible.

"Heavy thunderstorms this week may bring hail, damaging winds, tornadoes and flooding rain from the Plains to the Great Lakes, disrupting travel and outdoor plans into Easter weekend," saidAccuWeather meteorologist Alex Sosnowski in an online forecast.

At the same time, freezing rain and snow will bring a wintry feel to the far northern tier of the U.S. over the next few days.

Warmer days and blossoming flowers are signs that spring — which officially began on March 20 — is upon us. See stunning photos of scenes from spring 2026.

The Pink Trumpet Tree (Tabebuia Impetiginosa) springs to life at the Hibiscus Fountain in Palm Beach, Fla., March 5, 2026.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> Light rain gathers on a car window parked near Scituate Light which is reflected in the raindrops on the windshield in in Scituate, Mass., March 16, 2026

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> Mist rises pond at Lakes Park, Fla., on March 24, 2026.

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See the beauty of spring in these stunning photos from across the US

Warmer days and blossoming flowers are signs thatspring— which officially began on March 20 — is upon us. See stunning photos of scenes from spring 2026.The Pink Trumpet Tree (Tabebuia Impetiginosa) springs to life at the Hibiscus Fountain in Palm Beach, Fla., March 5, 2026.

Stationary front to blame

On Tuesday, March 31, a front extended from the Northeast across the Great Lakes, Central Plains, Northern Rockies, and Northern California, which will remain nearly stationary with waves of low pressure running along the boundary through Thursday, April 2,NOAA's Weather Prediction Center (WPC) said in an online forecast.

"Tuesday's storms may bring large hail, damaging wind gusts and a few tornadoes, with the greatest concentration from southern Michigan to northeast Illinois, the northern parts of Indiana and Ohio,"AccuWeathermeteorologist Brandon Buckingham said.

NOAA's Storm Prediction Centerhas issued a slight risk (level 2/5) of severe thunderstorms for parts of the Great Lakes/Ohio Valley through Wednesday morning, April 1.

"The hazards associated with these thunderstorms are frequent lightning, severe thunderstorm wind gusts, hail, and a few tornadoes," theWPC said.

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Freezing rain and snow to the north

"Moreover, rain/freezing rain will develop from parts of the Upper Mississippi Valley/Upper Great Lakes into parts of the Northeast on Tuesday [March 31],"the WPC said. "In addition, light snow will develop over northern Maine and over parts of the Upper Mississippi Valley and Northern Plains."

By Wednesday, April 1, there will be patches of rain and freezing rain from the Central Plains to the Great Lakes, and a second area of rain and freezing rain over parts of the Northeast. Light snow will develop over parts of the Northern and Central Plains and the Upper Mississippi Valley on Wednesday, April 1.

Wet, stormy Wednesday for millions, forecast says

On Wednesday, April 1, the severe weather threat is forecast to shift south and consolidate over the Plains and parts of the Mississippi Valley,AccuWeather said. Severe weather is anticipated from central Texas through central and southeastern Kansas into southwestern and central Missouri.

Farther to the east, heavy thunderstorms will drench portions of the Ohio Valley and the Mid-Atlantic region Wednesday, April 1. "Along with downpours that can slow travel, some storms may produce winds strong enough to break tree branches and send trash cans and recycling bins flying," Sosnowski said.

Thursday's severe weather risk returns to Midwest

According toAccuWeather, the risk of severe weather will continue across parts of the Mississippi Valley and Plains on Thursday, April 2, and Friday, April 3, with Thursday's storms capable of producing strong wind gusts and hail from northern Arkansas to southern Michigan.

How much rain will fall? Will it help the drought?

A general 1-4 inches of rain is forecast from Texas and the north-central Gulf Coast to the Great Lakes and central Appalachians, with locally higher amounts of up to 6 inches possible,Sosnowski said. "While not all of the rain will fall at once, multiple rounds of disruptive rainfall are likely."

"In drought-stricken areas, repeated rainfall may bring some relief and reduce the risk of spring wildfires."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:Severe weather is back in the US forecast as April 2026 begins

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Bad weather is back in the US forecast as April begins

After a brief break, severe weather is returning to the forecast as April begins — mainly across the central U.S., with s...

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US journalist kidnapped in Baghdad and security forces hunt captors, Iraqi officials say

BAGHDAD (AP) — An American journalist was kidnapped Tuesday inBaghdadand Iraqi security forces are pursuing her captors, Iraqi officials said.

The journalist was identified as freelancer Shelly Kittleson by one of the outlets she worked for.

The Iraqi interior ministry said in a statement that a foreign journalist had been kidnapped, without giving more details about the person's identity.

Two Iraqi security officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the case, said the kidnapped journalist was a woman with U.S. citizenship.

They said that two cars were involved in the kidnapping, one of which crashed and was apprehended while being pursued by authorities near the town of Al-Haswa in Babil province southwest of Baghdad, and the journalist was transferred to a second car that fled the scene.

The interior ministry said that security forces had launched an operation to track down the kidnappers, "acting on precise intelligence and through intensive field operations" after intercepting a vehicle belonging to the kidnappers that overturned as they tried to flee.

One suspect was arrested and one of the vehicles used in the kidnapping was seized, but others remain on the loose, the statement said.

The two security sources said the journalist was kidnapped from central Baghdad, on Saadoun Street. They added that an alert was circulated to all checkpoints, leading to a pursuit of the kidnappers as they headed southwest of Baghdad toward Babil province.

Al-Monitor, a regional news site covering the Middle East, identified the journalist kidnapped Tuesday in Baghdad as Kittleson, a freelancer who contributed to the publication. In a statement, Al-Monitor said it is "deeply alarmed" by her kidnapping.

"We call for her safe and immediate release," the statement said. "We stand by her vital reporting from the region and call for her swift return to continue her important work."

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Kittleson has been a longtime freelancer in the region, reporting extensively from Syria and Iraq.

A spokesperson for the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad declined to comment.

The U.S. State Department said in a statement, "The Trump Administration has no higher priority than the safety and security of Americans" and that it is "tracking these reports."

"Due to privacy and other considerations, we have nothing further to share at this time," the statement said.

It was not immediately clear if the kidnapping was related to the ongoing regional war, but Iran-backed militias in Iraq have launched regular attacks on U.S. facilities in the country since the beginning of the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran.

Since the start of the war, the U.S. embassy has warned of kidnapping risks and urged citizens in the country to leave.

Iraqi militias had also kidnapped foreigners before the war.

Elizabeth Tsurkov, a Princeton graduate student with Israeli and Russian citizenship, disappeared in Baghdad in 2023. After she was freed and handed over to U.S. authorities in September 2025, she said that she had been held by the Iran-allied Iraqi militia Kataib Hezbollah.

The group never officially claimed responsibility for kidnapping her.

Associated Press writers Abby Sewell in Beirut, Stella Martany in Irbil, Iraq, and Matthew Lee in Washington contributed.

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US journalist kidnapped in Baghdad and security forces hunt captors, Iraqi officials say

BAGHDAD (AP) — An American journalist was kidnapped Tuesday inBaghdadand Iraqi security forces are pursuing her captors, ...

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As Putin takes Russia off the grid, there are growing signs of discontent

Russians might be getting fed up with the Kremlinmaking their lives harder and more isolatedin the name of security.

A rare call for protests over the weekend followed mounting signs of anger and ridicule aimed at authorities, with pro-Kremlin influencers and newspapers joining a growing wave of public frustration at the government's approach.

A majormobile internet blackout in Moscowand thethrottling of the popular messaging app Telegram, both justified by ambiguous security considerations, helped fuel the rare public criticism over this erosion of digital freedoms and connectivity. It comes against the backdrop of soaring prices and an ailing wartime economy, withlittle sign of major battlefield progress in Ukraine.

Memes on TikTok and Instagram ridiculed Russians resorting to paper maps and pagers in the absence of mobile internet, or walking around the capital with satellite antennas strapped to their laptops.

Others went beyond satire, calling on their compatriots to gather in protest over the weekend. While authorities did not approve any public rallies, at least 20 people were detained for protesting digital restrictions across Russia on Sunday, a rights group said.

President Vladimir Putin "really wants every Russian citizen to feel alone and rejected," information technology specialist Alexander Isavnin said.

"He wants them to keep their discontent inside and feel like they are the only ones not happy about what is going on," Isavnin, 49, told NBC News, explaining why he was among those who tried — and failed — to get approval for protests in the capital and the Moscow region.

"We basically live in a digital concentration camp," he said.

Engaging in any form of protest has become increasingly dangerous sincea crackdown on free speech was intensifiedfollowing the2022 invasion of Ukraine. Even before the war, mass gatherings had to be sanctioned by local authorities. Most are still denied on grounds likeCovidrestrictions, which don't seem to apply to government-approved events.

Still, the increasing limits on digital freedoms appear to have hit a nerve with many Russians, despite the Kremlin's long-standing drive for greater control of their lives.

With state television and media heavily censored, the internet is one of the last bastions of freedom and a source of independent information for millions, although many foreign sites have been banned since the war.

Activist and political strategist Dmitry Kisiev was among those calling for mass gatherings March 29, a symbolic reference to Article 29 of the Russian Constitution, which guarantees freedom of thought and speech.

Kisiev, 31, said local activists had submitted applications to hold rallies in 17 regions across Russia. They were all denied, he said, including some that were initially given the go-ahead. Despite that, the OVD-Info protest monitoring group said Tuesday that at least 25 people were arrested across Russia for protesting digital restrictions Sunday, 18 of them in Moscow. The group also reported detentions ahead of Sunday of people who tried to apply to hold a protest.

Protests could show those who don't agree with the restrictions "that there are other like-minded individuals," Kisiev said.

NBC News reached out to more than a dozen Russians to ask what they think about the calls for protests. Most did not respond, while some declined to speak, without providing a reason.

Earlier this year,some Russians saidthey feared the Kremlin was preparing the public for a "North Korea" model of the internet, heavily controlled and censored by the state. "I don't think the Russian public will accept this," Kisiev said, given how central the internet has become to the lives of millions in the country.

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Russian authorities have said that mobile internet outages are necessary to stop attacks by Ukrainian drones, and that Telegram is turning into a breeding ground for terrorism.

These justifications are "absurd," Kisiev said, adding that the real motivation seems obvious. "The government is intentionally killing the internet so that users don't use foreign resources and get alternative information," he said.

'Bring back the internet'

Russian authorities have touted the merits of a life without the internet, arguing it's an opportunity for a "digital detox" and more face-to-face interaction.

A popular game show that aired on a Russian state TV channel as calls for protests grewearlier this monthfeatured a children's choir, with members dancing enthusiastically and singing about how they don't need the internet. "The monitor's blue screen won't ruin my dinner," they crooned.

But despite this effort from the Kremlin, there is a huge appetite from the public for a way to vent frustration about the mounting restrictions, said politician Boris Nadezhdin, who tried torun for president against Putin in 2024and whose campaign was overseen by Kisiev.

Nadezhdin said in a phone interview that he supported the protests and had personally applied with authorities in the capital and the wider Moscow region for gatherings of up to 10,000 people. All his requests were turned down citing Covid concerns, he said.

"The slogans are clear," he said. "Bring back the internet, bring back Telegram, we don't need your MAX," he said, referring to the so-called national messenger increasingly imposed on Russians by the Kremlin. Critics say the app could be used for mass surveillance.

Taxi driver Alexey Popov applied for a protest against internet censorship in his Siberian town of Yakutsk. It was originally sanctioned for Monday, but that permission was later withdrawn, Popov, 27, told NBC News. The refusal letter from the municipal authorities, viewed by NBC News, stated that Popov could not hold a rally on any date because of "considerable attention" to the event from "destructive individuals."

Popov said he was under no illusion that the protests would persuade the Kremlin not to further crack down, but said he didn't want to give "silent approval" to what the government is doing. "We don't agree with what is going on and we want to express that," he said.

Popov said on a Telegram channel he runs that he was detained Saturday and then released Monday. He told NBC News he was detained for disobeying police, a charge he disputes.

'Wall of mistrust'

The indignation has also been expressed by those either aligned with the Kremlin or normally not politically involved.

The growing restrictions have come in parallel with outrage over the mass extermination of livestock in Siberia, which has wreaked havoc on local farmers, due to what authorities said was an infectious pasteurellosis outbreak.

A lack of communication by the government appears to be at the core of these complaints.

"The wall of mistrust and misunderstanding between the people and the government is growing," pro-Kremlin journalist Anastasia Kashevarova wrote in a post on Telegram last week, as she warned that public revolt was the "fastest way to destroy Russia."

Awell-known Kremlin loyalist unexpectedly turned against Putinearlier this month, then landed in a psychiatric hospital. Ilya Remeslo cited the Kremlin's "strangling of internet and media freedoms" as a sign the Russian leader had lost grip on reality.

Famous Russian blogger Victoria Bonya, known for fitness videos shared with nearly 13 million subscribers on Instagram, also complained about official communication on internet restrictions, as well as the livestock crisis and soaring prices affecting ordinary Russians. "Is the commander-in-chief, Vladimir Putin, aware of what is happening with the country or not?" she questioned in one of her videos earlier this month, in rare public criticism of the Russian leader.

And a pro-Kremlin newspaper recently came out with an unusually critical editorial. "The number of meaningless bans per capita is already off the charts. And again, no sensible explanations," Moskovsky Komsomolets said earlier this month. It questioned whether authorities "consider us to be small children, unwise enough to explain anything to us and trust us."

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As Putin takes Russia off the grid, there are growing signs of discontent

Russians might be getting fed up with the Kremlinmaking their lives harder and more isolatedin the name of security. ...

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Chiefs owner: Patrick Mahomes' rehab 'ahead of schedule'

Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes is "ahead of schedule" in his return from a knee injury, according to team owner Clark Hunt.

Mahomes, 30, tore the ACL and LCL in his left knee in a Dec. 14 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers. The two-time NFL MVP sat out the rest of the season and the Chiefs (6-11) missed the playoffs for the first time since 2014.

"By every indication, Patrick is ahead of schedule, and he's worked really hard to be ahead of schedule," Hunt said this week at the NFL's annual meeting in Phoenix. "Knowing how that plays out in terms of being ready for contact, I don't think any of us can speculate. But he's doing fantastic, and we certainly hope we're going to bounce back this year. We absolutely think we're a playoff team again, for sure."

With Mahomes' timetable uncertain, Clark said the NFL isn't likely to choose the Chiefs to play in the NFL kickoff game on Wednesday, Sept. 9, against the Super Bowl champion Seahawks in Seattle.

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"I don't think that's on the table anymore for us to be in Seattle (for the opener)," he told Front Office Sports. "From a league standpoint, I think there would be some concern whether our quarterback will be ready to go. My guess is the league won't want to take that risk."

Mahomes has guided the Chiefs to five Super Bowl appearances and three championships since being drafted 10th overall in 2017. He is 95-31 as a starter in the regular season and 17-4 in the postseason.

The other quarterbacks on the Kansas City roster are Justin Fields, Jake Haener and Chris Oladokun.

--Field Level Media

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Chiefs owner: Patrick Mahomes' rehab 'ahead of schedule'

Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes is "ahead of schedule" in his return from a knee injury, acco...

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