PFWA Pool Report: Mooney’s apparent touchdown overturned

Official Alex Kemp was asked by the PFWA pool reporter Josh Kendall of The Athletic about the apparent touchdown reception by wide receiver Darnell Mooney in the second quarter:

Question: On the Darnell Mooney touchdown that was called back, can you give me the exact ruling on what that was? Was the ruling that he was not forced out of bounds or that he didn’t reestablish himself in bounds?

Alex Kemp: We ruled that he did not reestablish himself back in bounds, that he went out on his own. He was not forced out.

Question: What would he have to do to reestablish himself in bounds?

Kemp: He would have to get two feet down in bounds in order to reestablish, two feet or a body part, back in bounds. If he had and would have been the first to touch, it would have been a foul for illegal touching of a pass. The penalty enforcement for that would be the exact same as an incomplete pass. It’s loss of down at the previous spot. Had we ruled what we ruled or the other way, the result of the play would have been the exact same thing.

Question: So once he went out of bounds on his own by your determination, the play was over one way or the other?

Kemp: The play isn’t over. The play is allowed to proceed to completion because, of course, the pass could be intercepted or caught by another player. But if it is touched by that player, it is a foul for illegal touching if he reestablishes and it is simply an incomplete pass if he does not.