Carl Nicks Injury: NFLPA 'likely' to seek damages for MRSA plaguing Buccaneers

The NFLPA is likely to seek damages from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the MRSA case that has struck Carl Nicks and Lawrence Tynes, according to Chris Mortensen of ESPN. The point of contention seems to be the origin of the virus. It's not clear whether the NFLPA will seek damages in a lawsuit in addition to the grievance they will file.

According to Jason La Canfora, the Buccaneers are contending that Nicks and Tynes were struck by different strains, and that Tynes' MRSA may not have come from the team facility. Which implicates, of course, that Nicks' strain did come from the facility. The NFLPA believes that a team employee initially introduced the virus to the Bucs' facility.

The Buccaneers have looked pretty bad in this incident so far, refusing to place Lawrence Tynes on injured reserve and thereby denying him an accrued season that would count towards his pension and several other benefits. Initially, the Buccaneers tried to cover up the outbreak of MRSA, until Fox Sports uncovered it.

Carl Nicks is out for several weeks with MRSA, and it's not clear when he'll be back, although the Buccaneers believe he will miss a handful of games at the most. Tynes' situation is more serious, and it seems likely the kicker will miss all of the season.

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