Fisher points out clock error in loss to Lions; league office agrees

St. Louis Rams coach Jeff Fisher says a mistake by the clock operator late in Sunday's last-second loss at Detroit basically gave the Lions an extra timeout that completely changed how the finish played out.

"In essence, Detroit was granted an extra timeout, I guess, if you want to look at it from our perspective," Fisher said Monday.

"There was an error, I did report it to the league, and that's all I can do."

The league office agreed Monday. It's just a bit of consolation for a team coming off a two-victory season that took the Lions to the wire on the road in an opening 27-23 loss.

Fisher said he didn't replay the events endlessly overnight, mentioning several other potential turning points. He was matter-of-fact discussing the clock issue, keeping his voice even.

After the league's weekly review of game tape, Greg Aiello, the NFL's senior vice president of communications, said the clock was stopped incorrectly.

"The officials did not signal for it to stop," Aiello said in an e-mail to the Associated Press. "The game clock was three seconds behind where it should have been. .... The game clock stopped incorrectly for a few seconds."

Report: Five-week plan for replacement refs A person familiar with the schedule tells the AP that the NFL has devised a temporary five-week setup for using replacement officials.

The regular on-field officials are locked out and replacements worked the preseason and the first week of the regular season.

The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the league has not made public officiating schedules.

In early June, the league locked out the officials, who are part-time NFL employees, after their collective bargaining agreement expired. The NFL Referees Association and the league met for three days at the beginning of September before talks collapsed.

Etc. • Packers wide receiver Greg Jennings has a groin injury, and his status for Thursday night's game against the Bears is unclear.

The Packers also released cornerback Brandian Ross to make room for outside linebacker Erik Walden, who has served a one-game suspension under the NFL's personal conduct policy.

• Bills receiver David Nelson will miss the rest of the season after tearing a ligament in his right knee in a 48-28 loss to the Jets on Sunday. Running back Fred Jackson also has a right knee injury and will miss at least three weeks.

• Falcons cornerback Brent Grimes will miss the rest of the season because of a torn Achilles tendon.