NFL VP of Officiating Mike Pereira said at today’s league meetings that he worries that the “level of respect has gone down” between players and officials, and he says he wants a more respectful relationship to be a point of emphasis.

In 2007, there were problems on both sides, from Ravens linebacker Bart Scott going bonkos when he disagreed with a late call in Baltimore’s loss to the Patriots to umpire Jim Quirk getting too physical with Packers linebacker Nick Barnett.

“We have to work not to get in those situations,” Pereira said. “I agree both sides are at fault. We’ll spend more time in training camps and before games talking to players, get involved before it gets out of hand.”

Pereira also said he would fire an official for using a slur based on race or sexual orientation toward a player, and he said head coaches need to show more respect to officials as well, although he added that he doesn’t want officials dropping penalty flags every time a coach criticizes them.

According to Pereira, unless a coach delivers “a direct f-bomb shot,” an official should not assess a 15-yard penalty. Which means we can expect Buccaneers coach Jon Gruden to get about five 15-yard penalties a game.