Giants stick with Greg Joseph if Graham Gano isn't ready

New York Giants kicker Graham Gano, who has been on injured reserve for four weeks after suffering a hamstring strain in a Week 2 loss at Washington, can open his 21-day window this week, assuming he has made enough progress to get closer to a return.

However, head coach Brian Daboll had no update on Gano or any of the injured players and told reporters during his call on Monday that he would have updates on Wednesday once the team returns to practice.

Gano was spotted outside at the start of Giants practice, the period open to the media, and did not appear to engage in any activity, whether he was in the fieldhouse or near the media after practice is a possibility.

However, given the nature of his injury, the Giants are not expected to rush him back, meaning he likely won't be ready for next weekend's game against the Philadelphia Eagles. And if he's not ready, Daboll told reporters the plan is to stick with Greg Joseph, who missed two field goals in Sunday's loss to the Bengals.

Daboll's revelation could mean that Gano is not far from returning to the point where it no longer makes sense to rule out Joseph and use another kicker.

But again, hamstrings can be tricky, and the Giants will no doubt want to make sure both the hamstring injury and the groin injury that initially put Gano on the injury report are fully healed before increasing his activity level.

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