NFL reviewing Raiola's cut block

ALLEN PARK, Mich. -- The NFL will reviewDominic Raiola'scut block on New England Patriots defensive lineman Zach Moorefor a possible fine, but theDetroit Lionscenter is not facing asuspension, the league said Monday.

The news, which was earlier reported by NFL Network, was confirmed by NFL spokesman Michael Signora to ESPN.com.

The NFL is also looking into a play where Raiola appears to take a swing at Moore for possible discipline.

Lions coach Jim Caldwell said he spoke with Raiola, but he kept the nature of their conversation private. The coach said the team is not considering any punishment for Raiola.

The issue with Raiola started when he tried to cut-block Moore on the game's final play with Detroit lined up in a kneel-down formation at the end of New England's 34-9win 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 down at 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."

Moore said Monday he wasn't hurt on the play and although he said he didn't engage in any trash talk with Raiola, he's not surprised the Lions center lost his cool.

"I mean if you look at the score, I would have been mad too," he said.

Patriots coach Bill 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 previous 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."

ESPNBoston.com's Lee Schechter and Mike Reiss contributed to this report.