He said on Monday that the brief for the umpires had been unchanged all year and that was to pay free kicks as they occur.
Speaking on Access All Areas on AFL.com.au, Evans said that the average of 38 free kicks and two 50m penalties per match so far in 2013 was the same as last year.
"There has been no direction or philosophical change to put the whistle away and pay only the obvious free kicks," he said.
He said umpires might pay more free kicks at the start of the year as they bed down new rules and interpretations.
"The challenge moving forward is how we get our umpires into round one, round two and round three so they are in a more consistent phase," he said.
He also rejected suggestions that Essendon coach James Hird had received a special briefing from the AFL umpires department in the lead up to the round nine clash with Richmond.
Evans said the conversation with Hird would have been no different to that between the coaches and various officials from the AFL's umpiring department on most weeks over the course of the season.
He said the tribunal and match review panel system was working reasonably well, but would be reviewed at the end of the year, perhaps with a view to simplifying some of the language.
"For me it might be about creating more clarity for people so they understand the impact of prior record, good record or carryover points, to make those things simpler. There might be some other tweaks along the way.
"People look at it as in did they get a reprimand or one week or two weeks, so I think we need to find a way to communicate that better.
