The tension between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and ailing kicker Lawrence Tynes continues to escalate.
Tynes was informed Saturday that he was placed on the team's non-football injury list, a designation that guarantees Tynes his $840,000 base salary but withholds other benefits reserved for players on injured reserve.
Tynes has been sidelined since contracting an MRSA infection that began in his foot. It's believed both Tynes and guard Carl Nicks contracted the dangerous infection in the Bucs' training facility.
Tynes contends other NFL teams have put players on IR in similar situations.
"This whole thing is wrong," Tynes said Saturday in an interview with FoxSports.com. "My biggest emphasis is I don't want this to happen to any current or future player. I'm going to fight this thing as long as I have to, because this team should not be allowed to do this to players.
"If I drop a 45-pound plate on my foot while lifting weights in the weight room at the facility, it's IR. So I just don't understand how my situation is any different. I went to work, I kicked, I practiced, I cold-tubbed, I hot-tubbed, I showered for all those days there. I come up with MRSA and it's a non-football injury? They're basically trying to exonerate themselves of this, and I'm not going to allow it to happen."
Tynes' comments come three days after his wife, Amanda, ripped the Bucs and coach Greg Schiano for making misleading statements about the kicker's condition. Amanda Tynes said her husband has not been responding well to treatment.
Nicks is doubtful for Week 1, a source told NFL.com's Ian Rapoport. Tynes underwent toe surgery last week to scrape out the infection, per ESPN and Fox Sports 1. His roster designation officially ends his season.
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