After a four-week absence, Giants kicker Graham Gano will return Sunday against the Eagles. The Giants are activating Gano from IR, Jordan Raanan of ESPN reports. He’ll be their only active kicker in Philadelphia, per Raanan.
The 38-year-old Gano connected on all six field-goal tries and four straight extra points to begin the season, but he suffered a groin injury in pregame warmups in Week 3. Injuries have been an all-too-frequent occurrence for Gano since he signed a three-year, $16.5MM contract extension in 2023. He has now missed 20 games dating back to then.
Gano, who returned to practice earlier this week, will reclaim his job from fill-in Jude McAtamney. The Northern Ireland native converted both of his field-goal attempts during Gano’s four-game stint on IR. However, he missed three of his 12 extra-point tries, including two in a deflating 33-32 loss to the Broncos last Sunday. The Giants then cut McAtamney on Tuesday before re-signing him to their practice squad. He and veteran Younghoe Koo are in the fold as fallback options behind Gano.
Along with activating Gano on Saturday, the Giants elevated wide receiver Lil’Jordan Humphrey and safety Raheem Layne from their practice squad. It’ll be the third standard gameday elevation for both players, which is the limit. The Giants will need to sign either to their 53-man roster if they want to activate one or both of them again.
The Giants also waived linebacker Swayze Bozeman, who has appeared in four of their games this season. The 26-year-old has played 92 snaps (75 on special teams, 17 on defense) and made three tackles.
Any betters out there, bet the farm on Gano getting injured in warmups and not playing.
He should be okay until next week when he’s back on the Met Life playing surface.