Here we go again.
If all goes according to plan, Graham Gano will be the placekicker for the Giants on Sunday in Philadelphia. What could go wrong?
Gano, 38, missed the past four games dealing with a strained groin. In his place, Jude McAtamney was signed off the practice squad but he was cut on Tuesday after missing two extra points in the historic 33-32 loss to the Broncos in Denver. The defense allowed all 33 points in the fourth quarter as the Giants blew leads of 19-0 and 26-8.
“If Graham’s ready to go, Graham will be the kicker,’’ head coach Brian Daboll said Wednesday before practice.
This is unsurprising but going back to the proven Gano does come with risk, given his injury history. He pulled a hamstring last season to leave his team without a kicker in a loss in Washington. Another injury left the Giants short-handed this season.
Gano was 6-for-6 on his field-goal attempts in the first three games, with his longest kick from 55 yards. He made all four of his extra-point attempts as well.
But as the lights were turned off in Week 3 at MetLife Stadium for the pregame introductions before the “Sunday Night Football” meeting with the Chiefs, Gano hit his foot on the turf during a warmup kick and hurt his groin, meaning the Giants had to go with punter Jamie Gillan as their kicker, with poor results. Gano was placed on injured reserve and the Giants went with McAtamney for the next four games, while also signing proven veteran Younghoe Koo to the practice squad.
McAtamney, a 25-year-old from Northern Ireland, was on the practice squad as part of the NFL’s International Player Pathway Program. In four games this season, he attempted only two field goals, going 2-for-2 — both from inside 39 yards — in the victory over the Chargers. He was 3-for-3 on extra points before missing one of his five attempts in Week 6 against the Eagles. So, there were no glaring signs that he could not get the job done.
He went 2 of 4 on extra points in Denver — the first miss came after a low snap from Casey Kreiter messed with the timing. The second, with the Giants leading 32-30 with 37 seconds remaining, drifted wide right.
Why was McAtamney active for the games with Koo waiting in the wings? McAtamney outkicked Koo in practice, The Post learned, and the coaching staff was more comfortable going with McAtamney. Koo, 31, is 181-for-211 on field goals (85.8 percent) in his career but the Falcons parted ways with him after seven years after he missed a potential game-tying 44-yard field-goal attempt in the season-opening 23-20 loss to the Buccaneers. In 2024, Koo’s 73.5 percent field-goal success rate was the worst since joining the Falcons in 2019.
The window to activate Gano off injured reserve was opened up this week and it appears as if he will be ready to go this weekend as long as he passes the tests he will undertake in practice.
“We’ll go through the week here and if he looks good hopefully he’ll be out there,’’ Daboll said. “He’s done a good job for us, he couldn’t do anything about the injury that he had.’’
Given his recent injury history, there is a risk entrusting the place kicking duties once again to Gano without someone else in reserve. It did not sound as if Daboll was planning on activating Koo as an extra kicker for the game against the Eagles. If Gano is ready, he will be the guy.
“He does the stuff he needs to do with trainers and they think he’s ready to go,’’ Daboll said. “It will be good to have him out here.
“This is not like a defensive back or a receiver. They’ve been working with him, they feel comfortable with what he’s been doing, that’s why we’re opening his window.’’
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: nypost.com
