NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Tennessee Titans coach Brian Callahan admitted he incorrectly decided not to challenge an incomplete ruling by the officials that took away a 23-yard reception by rookie receiver Elic Ayomanor in a 20-12 loss to the Denver Broncos on Sunday.
“My interpretation of the rule was wrong,” Callahan said. “I’ll own it. I didn’t do a good enough job in that moment, and I should have challenged it, and it probably would’ve resulted in a potential explosive play.”
Ayomanor managed to get his elbow in bounds as he came down after making the catch. Callahan didn’t challenge the play because he didn’t get a clean look at whether Ayomanor got a foot down as well.
“An elbow doesn’t equal two feet, so his foot would’ve had to come down as well,” Callahan said after the game.
According to the rulebook, though, a player must make contact with the ground inbounds with both feet or with any body part other than their hands. The call should have been challenged.
There were others in place, such as Rob Riederer, the director of game management and strategic initiatives, who could have told him to challenge the play. Callahan didn’t say whether he got a directive from the game management department to challenge the play. He instead took full responsibility for the blunder.
“I misspoke,” Callahan said. “I’m well aware of the rule, I understand how it works, and the way that I articulated it afterwards was incorrect. And I understand the rules of this game pretty well.”
