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NFL referees confident in catch rule reviews despite new criteria

PLANO, Texas -- Walt Coleman doesn't see the revamped catch rule as a big change for NFL game officials because the veteran referee believes they've already been calling catches the new way.

If anything, Coleman figures there will be fewer reviews of their rulings.

"Most of the calls that seemed to create the most controversy, we ruled them correctly and then they were overturned on replay," Coleman said Friday as officials gathered for their annual preseason meeting in the Dallas area. "From our standpoint, we're just going to continue to officiate the plays like we have."

League owners unanimously approved the changes in April -- more than three years after Dez Bryant's infamous catch that wasn't in Dallas' playoff loss at Green Bay, and just a few months since Pittsburgh's Jesse James had a late go-ahead touchdown taken away in a loss to New England that damaged the Steelers' hopes for the AFC's top seed.