2021 Preseason
Referee assignments, preseason week 1
Football is back with the NFL’s first preseason week; here are 2021’s first slate of referee assignments.
A full slate of football has finally returned. Fortunately, it appears that the 2021 NFL season will be played under some normalcy following the ups and downs of last year. John Hussey, pictured above, will be working the final game of the first preseason week as the Colts take on the visiting Panthers on Sunday afternoon. As previously reported, there will be no experimentation in the preseason this year, which typically includes referee tryouts, Officiating Development Program game assignments, and eighth official tests.
All times Eastern. Live games on NFL Network will be blacked out and telecast on local stations in both teams’ markets. (In some blackouts, a game scheduled to air on tape delay game will be aired live on NFL Network as a substitute game.) All games are available live on GamePass.
Shawn Smith’s crew is off this week after working last week’s Pro Football Hall of Fame Game. The 2021 officiating crews are listed here, but note that there may be substitutions from the regular crew personnel each week.
Thursday, Aug. 12
- WAS Football Team at Patriots, 7:30 p.m. NFLN — Scott Novak
- Steelers at Eagles, 7:30 p.m./tape delay 11 p.m. NFLN — Jerome Boger
Friday, Aug. 13
- Titans at Falcons, 7:00 p.m./tape delay 1 a.m. NFLN — Clete Blakeman
- Bills at Lions, 7:00 p.m. NFLN — Shawn Hochuli
- Cowboys at Cardinals, 10:00 p.m. NFLN — Bill Vinovich
Saturday, Aug. 14
- Dolphins at Bears, 1:00 p.m. NFLN — Brad Rogers
- Broncos at Vikings, 4:00 p.m. NFLN — Alex Kemp
- Saints at Ravens, 7:00 p.m. — Clay Martin
- Browns at Jaguars, 7:00 p.m. NFLN — Craig Wrolstad
- Jets at Giants, 7:30 p.m. — Brad Allen
- Bengals at Buccaneers, 7:30 p.m. — Adrian Hill
- Texans at Packers, 8:00 p.m. — Ron Torbert
- Chiefs at 49ers, 8:30 p.m./tape delay 1 a.m.NFLN — Carl Cheffers
- Seahawks at Raiders, 9:00 p.m. — Land Clark
- Chargers at Rams, 10:00 p.m. NFLN — Tony Corrente
Sunday, Aug. 15
- Panthers at Colts, 1:00 p.m. NFLN — John Hussey
