Lawrence Tynes

Walking on crutches and potentially sidelined for a long while, New York Giants kicker Lawrence Tynes directed his anger at the NFL last night.

The veteran Giants kicker suffered what the team initially diagnosed as a thigh bruise when Panthers linebacker Sean Ware fell into his left leg while blocking a fourth-quarter field goal try in Carolina's 20-10 preseason win.

No flag was called on the play, despite the league's new emphasis on defenseless players, and that set Tynes off afterward.

"Where was the flag?" he said. "I don't care if you tip the ball, you still shouldn't be able to hit a kicker when he still has his plant foot on the ground."

Tynes said his knee is unhurt, but he struggled to walk in the locker room and the Giants have scheduled an MRI exam today. It seemed likely last night that Big Blue will have to bring in at least a temporary replacement.