Gano injury leaves Giants without a kicker in loss

LANDOVER, Md. — The New York Giants had no kicker after the opening kickoff Sunday. It proved to be a major factor in their 21-18 loss to the Washington Commanders at Northwest Stadium.

The Giants scored three touchdowns for the game; Washington scored none. Austin Seibert kicked seven field goals for the Commanders, tied for second most in a game in NFL history.

Not having a kicker after Graham Gano pulled his hamstring trying to chase down a returner on the opening kickoff influenced New York’s decision-making the rest of the way. The Giants attempted only one extra point with punter Jamie Gillan, who missed wide right in the first quarter.

“Feel bad for Graham. Feel bad for us,” Giants coach Brian Daboll said. “But no excuses.”

The game was tied at 18 late in the fourth quarter with New York deep in Washington territory. But Daboll elected to go for it on fourth-and-4 from the Commanders’ 22-yard line rather than attempt a field goal with Gillan.

Gillan kicked for the Giants last year in New Orleans and made a 40-yard field goal.

“We went for it there at the end of the game. Thought our chances were good throwing it to [wide receiver] Malik [Nabers] with [quarterback] Daniel [Jones], but it was the way we were playing was better than making a 39- or 40-yard field goal,” Daboll said. “That’s what I decided to do.”

The Giants had kicking concerns coming into the game. Gano was added to the injury report on Saturday with a right groin injury. The injury Sunday was to his right hamstring.

Daboll seemed to separate the two and downplay any correlation.

“He didn’t hurt his groin, he hurt his hamstring,” Daboll said, before adding he wasn’t a doctor and didn’t know if the injuries were related.

Gano even went into the locker room at one point during early warmups to have the groin wrapped. He returned and hit a 60-yard attempt.

“Of course it was bothering me but I was fine,” Gano said. “I was hitting the ball great, making a lot of kicks. The hamstring, that’s just bad luck.”

Gano tried to kick through a knee injury last season and uncharacteristically missed a pair of field goal attempts in an overtime loss to the New York Jets. He then underwent season-ending knee surgery.

The Giants still didn’t deem it necessary to take the extra contingencies against the Commanders. They opted against elevating kicker Jude McAtamney from the practice squad prior to Sunday’s game. Instead, they elevated linebackers Ty Summers and Tomon Fox.

Daboll wouldn’t say whether the team seriously contemplated it as an option.

“We talk about a lot of things,” he said. “We thought [Gano would] be good to go.”

He was at the start. Just not for long.

The injury Sunday actually occurred as Gano tried to chase down Austin Ekeler on a 98-yard return for a touchdown that was negated by a penalty. It put New York at a disadvantage.

The Giants (0-2) wasted what Daboll thought was a good performance from his quarterback. Jones, under heavy scrutiny after a shaky Week 1 performance, threw a pair of touchdown passes and didn’t have a turnover.

It still wasn’t enough without a kicker.

“Yeah, I don’t think we are going to make excuses,” Jones said. “There were numerous things we could have done better and needed to work on, but we are not going to make excuses. There are things we’ll work on and fix going forward, and that’s what I’m focused on.”