LaDainian Tomlinson's MCL injury kept him on the bench for the vast majority of Sunday's loss to New England which has resulted in criticism from NFL Network analyst Deion Sanders. "It must be surgery for him to get a pass on this one," Sanders said on the telecast. "I hope we come up with something in the offseason that is not severe but that warrants surgery because there is no reason not to play with all the medication in the world today, not to play in this big game that could propel your team into the Super Bowl." "He's never been a running back and had a sprained MCL," said Tomlinson in a report from the Press-Enterprise. "You tell me what running back has played with a sprained MCL and been effective. ... I don't know how that information gets passed on, but until you talk to the source of the problem, what's going on with me, I think it's ridiculous when people make comments like that."