The NFL's replacement referees have been the talk of the league through two weeks. While there are a couple of crews that have received decent reviews from the players and those who took in the game, many are growing increasingly frustrated as calls get worse and worse. The Oakland Raiders are yet to be on the wrong side of a bad call, although that could change on any given Sunday.
Raiders quarterback Carson Palmer said on Wednesday that he is doing his best to forget about the replacement refs and just play football:
"You try to block it out. But you can't help but notice things out of the corner of your eye that you see downfield or you see in front of you. But at the end of the day there's nothing you can do. Arguing a call, yelling at a ref, trying to get an explanation for something, you just can't. You've just got to focus on your job.
"What they call is what they call, what they don't call is what they don't call, and you've got to play the next play."
The Raiders can only hope their players follow Palmer's lead. Yes, the replacement referees have been bad this season, but until the NFL reaches an agreement with their regular guys, we're stuck with the backups. Complaining or letting their bad calls affect your individual play won't help matters at all.
For more on Palmer and the Raiders, be sure to check out Silver and Black Pride.