If you want to be really technical (no pun intended) about it, it's not a held ball. 4-25 says "hands" and the title to 4-24 (and other sections) mentions "hands and arms", indicating that the rules consider them to be different entities.
Having said that, I'm calling it a held ball nevertheless. This would come under the heading of "preventative officiating". I can't imagine anyone would give you trouble over this, except maybe that coach who carries the rulebook around in his pocket protector.
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Yom HaShoah
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