I seem to remember in the first quarter, the refs stopping play seconds before the snap, to change out the balls, because they errantly placed the kicking ball instead of the scrimmage ball down for play.
I think any pro who touches the ball, would discern the difference.
Especially when placing one team’s ball down repeatedly, then another one’s.
What did the team center say about it?
That was the start of the third quarter. The kicking balls are marked.
As for pros touching the ball discerning? Many have said they can’t when up in those ranges, even when specifically trying and doing non-QB things with the ball to tell. D’Qwan Jackson, the Colt defender who intercepted the ball and was credited in the media as kicking off all this has said he didn’t notice any difference.
A volley ball is 4.5 PSI which is fairly soft, a basketball is 8 PSI which is pretty stiff. An NFL football is 13. From feeling with a hand, anything over 9-10 is just hard.