CINCINNATI — The NFL has yet to rule on the latest Patriots’ videotaping incident, but the team has already handed down some discipline.

According to the Boston Globe, New England suspended Dave Mondillo, a full-time employee of Kraft Sports and Entertainment, who shot the video of the Bengals sideline last week.

In a statement last week, the Patriots implied the mistake was made by an independent contractor.

“The sole purpose of the filming was to provide an illustration of an advance scout at work on the road,” they wrote. “There was no intention of using the footage for any other purpose. We understand and acknowledge that our video crew, which included independent contractors who shot the video, unknowingly violated a league policy by filming the field and sideline from the press box. When questioned, the crew immediately turned over all footage to the league and cooperated fully.

“The production crew is independent of our football operation. While aware that one of the scouts was being profiled for a “Do Your Job” episode, our football staff had no other involvement whatsoever in the planning, filming or creative decisions made during the production of these features.”

LIONS: There were a fair number of empty seats at Ford Field, and at times, the crowd’s silence made the place seem emptier than it was.

For most of the first half, the Detroit Lions’ performance fit the scene.

The Lions staggered to their seventh consecutive loss Sunday, falling 38-17 to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and for a while, it felt like the game might end with an even more lopsided score. Tampa Bay had a 21-0 lead with 8:13 remaining in the second quarter, outgaining Detroit 314-2.

“It’s a shame. It’s frustrating that that’s what happened,” Lions quarterback David Blough said. “I’ll take a lot of responsibility for that, too, as the leader of the offense.”

Blough was only playing because of injuries to Matthew Stafford and Jeff Driskel, and the Lions were also without several top rushing and receiving threats.

As Detroit (3-10-1) finishes up the season, the big questions are about the job security of GM Bob Quinn and second-year coach Matt Patricia. The first quarter certainly wasn’t a ringing endorsement of anyone associated with the Lions. They were outgained 236-1 and fell behind 14-0.