The best kick of Graham Gano’s career is a sore spot for his teammates.
In the few days since he signed with the Giants, Gano already has had his fill of reminders about his 63-yard field goal as time expired to give the Panthers a 33-31 victory on Oct. 7, 2018. The loss was the turning point of the Giants’ season, as they fell to 1-4 and didn’t win again until Nov. 12.
How is that memory sitting in his new locker room?
“I had a feeling that would be the first question,” Gano said. “I think it’s probably best I don’t talk about that much around here. I’m excited to be here now. Hopefully too many people don’t bring that up.”
Gano fractured his femur at practice later that season, missed all of last season and was released by the Panthers this month. He reunited with general manager Dave Gettleman and special teams coordinator Thomas McGaughey — both ex-Panthers — and went 6-for-6 on field goals Thursday in practice.
“I feel like my leg is better than it’s ever been,” Gano said, crediting Dr. Riley Williams at Hospital for Special Surgery in Manhattan. “It’s 100 percent now, and I’m ready to roll.”
Not bad considering he is 82 percent accurate in his career and the 63-yarder is tied for the second-longest field goal in NFL history. The Panthers gave their kicking job to Joey Slye, who had two short stints with the Giants last offseason.
Gano, 33, signed a one-year deal reportedly worth $2.5 million, replacing Chandler Catanzaro who came out of retirement for two weeks to replace the released Aldrick Rosas. Lawrence Tynes, who kicked the Giants into two Super Bowls, and Gano bonded years ago over shared roots as Scottish-born, Florida-raised sons of military fathers.
“He did some amazing things here,” Gano said, “and I’m excited to be able to follow in his footsteps and make memories here myself.”
With no preseason games due to the COVID-19 pandemic, intrasquad scrimmages take on added value. The Giants will hold their first of two Friday.
“You structure a lot of practices to see specific situations so the team can develop in what you are teaching,” coach Joe Judge said. “[The scrimmage] will be a lot more of put the ball down and play it out … and see how smart our players can react, how physical they can play, and see how we can hold up our fundamentals and execution through a higher intensity.”
Coordinators will call plays in red-zone, third-down and short-yardage situations, and untouchable quarterbacks will face a pass rush. Judge will keep players on varied play counts so everyone has an opportunity to compete.
What is Judge’s 30,000-foot view of the Giants’ strengths and weaknesses so far?
“It’s entirely too soon,” Judge said. “I see an urgency to improve.”