The Week 6 Sunday games kicked off in a rather unfortunate manner: with an injury. However, it was not a player from either the Jacksonville Jaguars or the Houston Texans who was affected; it was umpire Larry Smith.
Smith had to be carted off the field after appearing to suffer a lower leg injury when he fell down.
The injury occurred during a stoppage in play. A replay of Smith’s fall was shown during the broadcast. Initially, he managed to rise, but after taking a couple of steps, he began to limp and was compelled to return to the ground.
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With Smith likely sidelined for the remainder of the game, the officiating crew will now consist of six members instead of the standard seven.
Smith is an experienced Big 10 official who received the opportunity to officiate in the NFL last season. This marks his second year in that role. Outside of officiating, Smith serves as a principal at a school in Kansas City.
He discussed his rise to the NFL on a local news segment last year.
In his role as the umpire for Sunday’s match, Smith was responsible for positioning himself behind the offensive players to monitor for penalties related to the offensive line or other violations.
That responsibility will now be assumed by another official from the crew on Sunday.
