Giants head coach Brian Daboll fielded a number of questions about the team’s handling of the kicker position at a press conference after Sunday’s 21-18 loss to the Commanders.
The team added Graham Gano to the injury report with a groin injury on Saturday, but did not elevate kicker Jude McAtamney from the practice squad or sign him to the active roster ahead of the game. The Giants have 52 players on their roster after placing Gunner Olszewski on injured reserve this weekend.
Gano kicked off to start the game and then hurt his hamstring while trying to chase down Commanders returner Austin Ekeler on a 100-yard touchdown return that was wiped out by a holding call. Gano could not return and the Giants missed the only extra point they tried before failing on two two-point conversions. They also passed on having punter Jamie Gillan try a 40-yard field goal on fourth-and-four with just over two minutes left in a game that was tied 18-18 at the time.
After the game, Daboll pointed out that Gano left because of his hamstring rather than his groin and that the team couldn’t have predicted that when asked why they didn’t have another kicking option on hand.
“We talked about a lot of things,” Daboll said. “We thought he’d be good to go. We talked to him, we talked to the trainers. I can’t tell you he’s gonna get hurt chasing down a 100-yard kickoff return that’s gonna be called back.”
That might not have been predictable, but extra scrutiny for any decision by a coach who is now 6-13 since the start of last season is predictable and things will only get tougher on Daboll if the Giants can’t find a way to win against the Browns next week.
