I heard what DeweyFrank says here as well, the time keepers are separate from the Officials.
The timekeeper is an NFL employee paid by the league and is a minor official, like the replay operator or anyone else who assists in game management. But his actions are controlled by the referee, who signals the ball as ready for play. In the event of malfunction of the clock, the referee can keep time on the field.
Just heard this talked about on sports radio, remember before the season started when they said some pro-football players might come out as gay?? Huh?? Anyway, I don’t think this will be a major story, no matter how it goes. It could be big but heck, that one summer with T.O. at training camp and he supposedly tried to kill himself, that was a bigger story than this would be. I think it will be pushed to the off-season.