As more and more people speak out on the efforts surrounding missed calls on quarterbacks, V.P. of officiating's Dean Blandino also explained to Pro Football Talk Live that adding an eighth official on the field would help.   

 “The referee has to start on the left tackle on passing plays,” Blandino said regarding the current approach with seven officials. “So he’s going to look across and watch that left tackle but then anytime there’s a threat to the quarterback, they have to leave that tackle and go to the quarterback. So there is a transitional period and sometimes if we don’t get to the quarterback in time we may miss a hit on the quarterback. So that’s part of it. I think where we’ve been mechanically is we say, ‘Look you leave wherever else you are if there’s any threat to the quarterback. Any potential defender who’s going to be coming down on the quarterback.’ So we have to get there as quickly as possible and that’s just something we continue to drill mechanically," said Blandino.

These were Panthers head coach Ron Rivera's exact reasonings when he addressed the hits on Cam Newton in Monday's press conference.  

Rivera also noted he thought it could be time for hits on quarterbacks to be reviewable. Blandino mentioned something on that as well when asked on PFT. 

 “It’s certainly a possibility,” Blandino said. “It’s been discussed at length and anytime we have an opportunity to get the call right we think that’s a good thing. In the way the technology has advanced we can introduce it and implement it more seamlessly in the game. So I think that’s something that is definitely a possibility; we’ll continue to look at it."

Only time will tell as more continues to unfold in this situation, but it's certainly a good sign that Blandino tends to agree with Rivera that an extra official would be a big help.  

Written by Tripp Morgan

Follow him on Twitter @TrippMorgan6