The NFL privately acknowledged that a shock hit on fourth-quarter Baker Mayfield of the Cleveland Brown should have resulted in a penalty, according to several reports released Tuesday.

Several outlets, including ESPN and the Cleveland Plain dealer, reported that the league was in agreement with the Browns' stance that Jordan Whitehead should have been penalized for the safety of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, even though he publicly refuses to comment. The Plain Dealer said Whitehead would likely be fined for the blow later this week.

The collision occurred in the middle of the fourth quarter of the Browns' 26-23 loss to the Buccaneers, when Mayfield was trying to slip at the end of a 35-yard run. The officials initially reported Whitehead to the game and then decided to raise the flag after a brief discussion. Referee Shawn Hochuli explained that "the quarterback was still a runner and could therefore be hit in the head".

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Mayfield and the Browns challenged the game after the game.

"We put a lot of things on the protection of the quarterback," Mayfield told reporters at his post-game press conference. "It does not seem like the Browns are getting a lot of calls.They can look at it and they can say that I was a runner, but I started my slide.C." is a helmet-to-helmet contact.I felt it.But I got up and told the guy that he was going to have to hit me a lot harder when he wanted to m & # 39; To affect. "

Contact Tom Schad at [email protected] or on Twitter @ Tom_Schad.