Brian Daboll said Graham Gano will be the Giants‘ kicker Sunday in Philadelphia if he’s healthy and ready to play.
“If Graham’s ready to go, Graham will be the kicker,” Daboll said Wednesday before practice.
Joe Schoen and Daboll released kicker Jude McAtamney after his missed two extra points in Sunday’s 33-32 choke job in Denver. Then they opened Gano’s 21-day window to be activated from injured reserve, where he has been since Week 3 with a groin injury.
Gano, 38, and practice squad kicker Younghoe Koo are now the only two kickers on the roster.
It would make sense for Schoen and Daboll to activate Koo, 31, for the game anyway even if Gano dresses as the starter, considering how gameday Gano injuries have impacted the Giants in the past.
But Daboll didn’t sound too keen about having two kickers on his gameday roster.
“I’d say let’s see how he does these next couple of days here,” Daboll said. “But he’s a kicker, he’s been working, we’re bringing him up for a reason. Hopefully he’s progressing in the right direction. He is progressing in the right direction. So we’ll see in a couple days here how it goes and then make a decision [about] what we need to do.”
Gano was unavailable for most of the Giants’ Week 3 loss to Kansas City after getting hurt in warmups. That was the third time in three seasons that a kicker injury had done in Daboll’s Giants.
In Week 2 of last season at Washington, Gano aggravated an injury on the game’s opening kickoff. Punter Jamie Gillan missed an extra point after the Giants’ first touchdown. Daboll unsuccessfully went for two after the Giants’ second and third TDs. And the Giants lost, 21-18.
And in Week 8 of the 2023 season against the Jets, Daboll sent out an injured Gano to miss a 35-yard field goal late in the fourth quarter. And the Giants lost in overtime, 13-10.
The Giants signed Koo to their practice squad on Sept. 23 after a workout but did not elevate him with Gano sidelined.
Coincidentally, the other kicker the Giants worked out alongside Koo, Lucas Havrisik, signed with the Green Bay Packers and hit a franchise record 61-yard field goal — plus another field goal and three extra points — in Sunday’s 27-23 win over the Arizona Cardinals.
So it goes with the Giants, who may be leaving the door open to being compromised again by a kicker snafu on Sunday in Philly.
BURNS, STARTING DBS SIT OUT
Starting edge rusher Brian Burns (right foot), starting safety Jevon Holland (knee), starting corner Paulson Adebo (knee) and backup defensive lineman Chauncey Golston (neck) all sat out practice on Wednesday. Daboll declined to speak on their statuses for Sunday’s game in Philadelphia.
Burns is tied for the NFL lead with nine sacks. The next closest Giant is Kayvon Thibodeaux with 2.5 sacks this season. Holland and Adebo also would be key absences, as they were late in Sunday’s loss to the Broncos.
Corner Deonte Banks was on the field for all 33 Broncos points scored in the fourth quarter, and he would be in line for more playing time against Philly unless the Giants give backup Art Green a shot.
