LJ Stephan down with injury

Week 13: Giants at Redskins

In the second quarter, line judge Tom Stephan left game with an injury. He walked off to the Redskins sideline, and a replay showed him briefly grasping his leg with what appears to be a pulled hamstring.

Back judge Tony Steratore moved up to line judge, leaving the two deep officials in position. Steratore is the brother of referee Gene Steratore, who heads a different crew. Jerome Boger was the crew chief for this game.

At the end of the third quarter, Stephan has not returned. He is in his 14th season. If Stephan is out, this will cause a scramble at the line judge position.

At the conclusion of the referee lockout at the beginning of the season, line judge Tom Barnes retired, leaving a vacancy on Scott Green’s crew. This means there are 16 line judges to work 16 games on a given weekend. The officiating department would likely have to have someone pull Thursday and Sunday duties in the same week. This week, that will be Ron Marinucci (who is on Clete Blakeman’s crew). Marinucci worked last Thursday filling the vacancy on Green’s crew while the rest of Blakeman’s crew had a bye.