Virus puts Gano down but not out
Giants kicker Graham Gano tested positive for COVID-19 on Nov. 16. He quarantined for 10 days and battled symptoms. He hadn’t kicked with the team prior to Sunday. He didn’t know he would be active against the Bengals until the morning of the game. He still felt fatigued coming off his COVID bout.
Gano converted all four of his field-goal attempts and an extra point anyway, extending his streak to 24 consecutive made field goals — second-best in Giants history behind Josh Brown (29, 2014-15).
“I had the fever, body aches, headache. The fever got pretty aggressive,” said Gano, who hit from 49, 40, 39 and 32 yards on Sunday. “But I don’t think there was a time I was really worried. Today I was a bit fatigued. There were things here and there that I had to kind of work through. But they trust me to go out on the field and kick the ball, so I was able to do that, and they took good care of me the whole time. I feel I’m just gonna keep getting better physically from here on out.”
The Giants had signed practice squad kicker Ryan Santoso to the active roster and brought him on Saturday’s flight to Cincinnati just in case. Gano was cleared and good to go, just days after getting his sense of taste back.
“I lost my taste. That was tough,” Gano said. “But thankfully I got that back before Thanksgiving, and the team did a great job making meals for us, so I was fortunate to get my taste back for then.”
His first play of Sunday’s game left questions about whether he was going to struggle so soon after coming off the COVID reserve list. He sent a straight kickoff three yards into the end zone to the Bengals’ Brandon Wilson and then missed a tackle on Wilson’s 103-yard kick return.
“I can’t put that on being sick for a week or whatever,” Gano said. “I’ve got to kick off better directionally. I hit it down the middle of the field. I knew it going off the field. I told coach that as well. And I have to make that tackle, too. I’ve made enough tackles in my career and I didn’t do a good job there. All around, put that on me.”
The NFL has been ravaged by the COVID-19 virus in Week 12. The Ravens have had an all-out outbreak, postponing their game against the Steelers twice to Tuesday night.
The Broncos had to play Sunday’s game without a quarterback. And the 49ers can’t play home games in Santa Clara until further notice due to new local protocols.
There is increased talk of the NFL forming postseason bubbles for teams at hotels in their home cities, if the NFL Players’ Association signs off.
The Giants were without three other players due to positive tests: tight end Kaden Smith, offensive tackle Matt Peart and wideout Dante Pettis.
Gano was extremely sensitive to the nationwide pandemic and said he was grateful to be receiving the care he is getting as an NFL player.
“There are so many people around the world right now struggling with the same thing, so I just feel blessed and fortunate I was able to come out of it and be fine,” Gano said. “But there are a lot of people out there that aren’t so fortunate right now, so I feel like you’ve just got to keep praying for those people… I feel pretty good right now.”
Gano signed a three-year extension worth $14 million in new money on the day of the Giants’ Nov. 15 victory over the Eagles. He tested positive for the coronavirus the next day.
He said it was a “blessing” to be playing football again because he thought he might have been finished when he had surgery on his left femur last year. So now here was another challenge.
LEBRON CHEERS ON LALOS’ DEBUT
Giants rookie defensive lineman Niko Lalos delivered in the second half of his NFL debut on Sunday after receiving a pregame shoutout from fellow St. Vincent-St. Mary’s High School (Ohio) product LeBron James.
“Good luck out there Niko!” James tweeted.
Lalos, 23, a Dartmouth product, was better than lucky. He dove to intercept a third-quarter pass broken up by rookie corner Darnay Holmes. And Lalos ripped Bengals tight end Drew Sample’s second hand off the ball so Logan Ryan could strip it and recover a fumble in the fourth.
Both plays led to Gano field goals and a two-point Giants win.
“I’m happy for him,” Ryan said of Lalos. “First career start, an interception, a shout out from LeBron. I don’t think it gets better than that.”
THE NEW O-LINE
The Bengals did not record a sack and were credited with only three quarterback hits in the Giants offensive line’s first game since position coach Marc Colombo was fired and replaced with Dave DeGuglielmo.
The Giants rushed 42 times for 142 yards (3.4 yards per carry) and committed four penalties, including three by right tackle Cam Fleming (two holdings and a false start). Fleming’s holding penalty on the Giants’ final offensive drive nearly helped lose them the game.
INJURIES AND INACTIVES
The Giants lost special-teams captain Nate Ebner (knee) early in Sunday’s game. Julian Love replaced Ebner as the personal protector on Giants punts. Love actually made a great break and tackle on the Bengals’ second-half fake punt but didn’t get there soon enough to prevent the conversion.