EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- A turbulent season for New York Giants kicker Graham Gano has him on injured reserve for the second time this season.
The Giants placed Gano on injured reserve Wednesday with a neck injury. He was also on IR earlier this season with a groin injury. This injury could spell the end of his six-year run in New York.
Gano, 38, revealed late last week that he was dealing with a herniated disc that was pressing up his spinal cord. He felt discomfort before the Giants' loss to the San Francisco 49ers, when he missed a 45-yard field goal.
Gano was still hoping to be able to kick in this past Sunday's game against the Chicago Bears but was ultimately ruled out because of the neck injury. Younghoe Koo handled the kicking for the Giants (2-8) in that contest and made both of his field goal attempts (32 and 19 yards) and his only extra point.
Koo, currently on the practice squad, is expected to step into the full-time kicking role. New York also signed rookie Ben Sauls on Tuesday to the practice squad.
Gano's health has become a frequent topic with the Giants over the past three years, during which he has played in just 23 games. It was a knee injury that cut short his 2023 campaign. He went into a Week 2 contest last year with a groin injury before injuring his hamstring on the opening kickoff and missing six games.
Gano then was injured in pregame warmups before a Week 3 matchup with the Kansas City Chiefs this season. That landed him on injured reserve for four games. He lasted just two games before this latest setback with the neck.
"It's unbelievably frustrating," Gano said. "I mean, obviously all I want to do is play football. I can't control the injuries that have happened. It's not like I've done something that is out of the ordinary, like outside the building to hurt myself or anything. So, I think that's frustrating."
Gano is in his 16th professional season, with previous stops in Washington and Carolina. A Pro Bowl selection in 2017, he has hit 83.8% of his field goal attempts.