Quick rulebook fix would remove all doubt as to whether a timeout was called

Thursday's Packers-Lions game sparked a two-part pool report. Possibly with a timeout in between.

Yes, the timeout. It's the second best-known hand signal in sports, behind only the New Jersey state bird. We know it when we see it. And it's the universally-accepted procedure for letting game officials know that a break is requested, where the time has timeouts remaining or not.

In the second quarter of the first game of the day, the Packers (leading 10-7) faced fourth and one from the Lions' two. Green Bay was going for it. Right guard Anthony Belton started early. The penalty would have pushed the Packers back to the seven. Possibly, they would have opted to kick a field goal.

But there was no penalty enforced. Referee Ron Torbert announced that Packers coach Matt LaFleur had called a timeout before the false start. The Packers then scored a touchdown on the fourth-down play.

"The timeout was called before the false start happened," Torbert told pool reporter Colton Pouncy after the game.

"It looked like Matt LaFleur was covering his mouth at the time the penalty occurred," Pouncy said. "At what point did the official hear him ask for a timeout?"

"Before the false start," Torbert said.

"How did you reach the conclusion that the timeout occurred first?"

"We talked about it on the field," Torbert said. "We recognized the timeout called, and that the timeout was called before the false start."

The fix is simple. The rulebook currently says this: "The Referee shall suspend play while the ball is dead and declare a charged team timeout upon the request for a timeout by the head coach or any player (not a substitute) to any official. If an assistant coach signals for a timeout and it is inadvertently granted, the timeout will stand."

A sentence should be added explaining that a timeout request will be granted only upon the making of the timeout signal. Something like this: "A team timeout shall be granted only upon the making of the timeout signal by the head coach or any player (not a substitute) to any official."

That one addition would avoid any confusion in the future about verbal requests. Make the "T," get a timeout.

At a time when too many things aren't simple, this one is as simple as it gets.