NFL looking into Raiola's cut block
— -- ALLEN PARK, Mich. -- Detroit Lions coach Jim Caldwell said the NFL is looking into Dominic Raiola's cut block on New England Patriots defensive lineman Zach Moore.
Caldwell said he spoke with Raiola, but he kept the nature of their conversation private. The coach said the team is not considering punishment for Raiola but would not answer whether Raiola could miss Detroit's game Thursday against Chicago.
Caldwell said he had not heard anything in regard to that type of discipline from the league.
"Game to game it's always different," Caldwell said. "There's always issues and things that you've got to manage and handle. If that does arise, we'll find a way to get around it."
The issue with Raiola started when he tried to cut-block Moore on the game's final play, when Detroit was lined up in a kneel-down formation to end a 34-9 New England win over the Lions. After the game, Raiola said he was trying to cut-block Moore and took umbrage with New England scoring a late touchdown.
The Patriots scored the late touchdown because a C.J. Mosley personal foul penalty -- where he bowled over New England's long-snapper -- nullified a Patriots field goal to give New England a first-and-goal from the 1-yard line. Caldwell said Mosley was flagged appropriately on the play.
"I cut him. We took a knee, so I cut the nose," Raiola said. "They went for a touchdown at two minutes; they could have taken three knees and the game could have been over.
"I mean, it's football. You want us to keep playing football? Let's play football. No big deal -- it's football."
Caldwell said Monday the Lions had to stop the Patriots and that's "our business."
Belichick said he sensed frustration from Raiola, Mosley and other Lions late in the game.
"I'm sure there was a lot of frustration there from Raiola," he said. "That was obvious. He's never beaten us. He had a tough day in there dealing with [ Vince] Wilfork and [ Dont'a] Hightower and those guys. I'd say that was probably frustration.
"We saw a lot of that at the end of the game -- [ Tahir] Whitehead on [ LeGarrette] Blount's touchdown, Mosley on the personal foul on the field goal."
On Sunday, Wilfork called Raiola's antics "a boneheaded play."
"I didn't see it, but from what I heard ... you're taking a knee. They'd get mad if we were just to blow up one of their players, so I mean, it's just uncalled for," he said.
Caldwell was initially hired by the Lions in part to bring a calming, steady influence to a Detroit team that had acted out in prior years under former coach Jim Schwartz. The Lions have had 82 penalties accepted this season -- tied for 25th in the NFL -- and have had 102 flags thrown, which is 28th in the league. Their 681 penalty yards are 23rd in the league.
Asked Monday whether he was worried that his message was starting to get lost less than a season into his tenure, Caldwell said he was not, despite what happened late against the Patriots.
"I'm not worried at all in that regard," Caldwell said. "I know it's something that in particular when you're dealing with a place that you haven't been before, it's a constant battle every single day. Every single moment, so that's not anything unusual.
"I think most of the time our guys are guys that listen. Every once in a while you run into a guy that's not swayed by either threats or eloquence, so if that's the case, you've got to get rid of them. But nevertheless, we don't have guys like that."
Related Stories
ABC News Live