Giants head coach Brian Daboll answered a series of questions about the team’s handling of the kicker position at a press conference following Sunday’s 21-18 loss to the Commanders.
The team placed Graham Gano on the injured report on Saturday with a groin injury, but did not activate kicker Jude McAtamney from the practice squad or sign him to the active roster before the game. The Giants have 52 players on their roster after Gunner Olszewski was placed on the injured list this weekend.
Gano started the game on a kickoff and then injured his hamstring while trying to chase Commanders returner Austin Ekeler on a 100-yard touchdown return that was negated by a holding call. Gano was unable to return and the Giants missed the only extra point they attempted before failing on two two-point conversions. They also gave up punter Jamie Gillan’s 40-yard field goal attempt on fourth-and-four when the game was tied 18-18 at the time.
After the game, when asked why they had no other option to kick, Daboll stressed that Gano left the team because of his thigh injury rather than his groin injury and that the team could not have foreseen this.
“We talked about a lot of things,” Daboll said. “We thought he was ready. We talked to him, we talked to the coaches. I can’t tell you if he’s going to get hurt chasing a 100-yard kickoff return that gets called back.”
This may not have been predictable, but it is predictable that any decision made by a coach who has a 6-13 record since the start of last season will be particularly scrutinized, and things will only get more difficult for Daboll if the Giants fail to beat the Browns next week.
