Hamilton’s return ends Janikowski’s season
The Raiders designated cornerback Antonio Hamilton to return to practice from injured reserve Tuesday — a move that officially means kicker Sebastian Janikowski will not play this season.
It also calls into question whether Janikowski, 39, whose contract expires following this season, has played his last game for the Raiders, who drafted him in the first round in 2000.
Janikowski, the Raiders’ longesttenured player and all-time leading scorer, has spent the whole season on IR with a back injury. He had missed just four regular-season games before this season. He has made 414 field goals and scored 1,799 points over 17 seasons.
The Raiders and Janikowski agreed to a restructured contract before this season, just before he landed on IR, that is reportedly paying him $3 million in guaranteed salary.
Teams are allowed to bring two players back from IR during a season. The Raiders already used one of their designations on safety Obi Melifonwu, who was activated in Week 9. Hamilton was placed on IR on Oct. 14 after injuring his knee on a kickoff in Week 5 against the Ravens.
Hamilton will be eligible to play Dec. 10 at Kansas City, the Raiders said. By designating him to return, they also ruled out offensive lineman Denver Kirkland, who has spent all season on IR with a knee injury.
Janikowski’s replacement, Giorgio Tavecchio, has impressed the Raiders while making 12 of 15 field-goal tries and 25 of 26 extra-point attempts this season.
Asked about Tavecchio during the team’s bye week early this month, Raiders general manager Reggie McKenzie said, “Giorgio’s done a great job. He’s really stepped up to the plate and has been kicking well.” Manning benched: For the second straight game, the Raiders will face a team making a change at quarterback. The Giants announced Tuesday they plan to start Geno Smith on Sunday instead of Eli Manning, ending Manning’s streak of regular-season starts at 210.
Smith has appeared in four games over the past three seasons. His most significant action came against the Raiders in Week 8 of 2015 with the Jets. After an injury to Ryan Fitzpatrick, Smith went 27-for-42 for 265 yards, two touchdowns and an interception in a 34-20 Raiders win in Oakland.
“Under the right system and the right scheme, he’s able to really get things going as far as the offense,” Raiders cornerback TJ Carrie said of Smith. “When we played him a couple of years ago, I think he was able to do some pretty successful things against us, and those are things we’re going to have to prepare for.”