Giants Country

Giants Special Teams Coordinator Michael Ghobrial on How He’s Navigated Injuries

The Giants' special teams unit has been plagued by injuries this season, making the job of first-year special teams coordinator Michael Ghobiral more difficult.

Victoria Jonach

October 29, 2023; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; New York Giants place kicker Graham Gano (9) had trouble reaching the mark on Sunday.
October 29, 2023; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; New York Giants place kicker Graham Gano (9) had trouble reaching the mark on Sunday. / Kevin R. Wexler - The Record / USA TODAY NETWORK
In this story:

New York Giants special teams coordinator Michael Ghobrial’s first season as a full-fledged NFL STC has been challenging.

Ghobiral, who has already shown creativity in how he schemes the various units, has had his job made more difficult thanks to the injuries to kicker Graham Gano, who has been on injured reserve since Week 3 with a hamstring strain, and punter Jamie Gillian, who will miss his second straight game with a hamstring issue to his kicking leg.  

“It's tough to deal with any injury,” said Ghobrial on Thursday. “But the fact is that it happens in this league. We just [have] to be prepared for whoever's out there to perform at their best. It's our job to get the guys enough reps in practice to give them enough confidence to go out and execute in the game.”

The Giants brought in kicker Greg Joseph to fill in for Gano, who, despite having been eligible to come off injured reserve this week, isn’t quite ready and might not be ready until, at the soonest, after the team’s Week 11 bye. 

Joseph, a veteran kicker in his sixth NFL season, has had two perfect games for the Giants and two imperfect ones. He went 2-of-2 on PATs, but 8 of 11 on field goal tries. All three of his misses came on attempts of 40+ yards, two of which came in last week’s loss to the Cincinnati Bengals.

Ghobrial didn’t make excuses for Joseph. He explained that Joseph’s target line was off on the first attempt, and on the second, he just hooked. 

“He holds himself to a high standard, and I also hold him to that standard. He is a true pro, and he's had a good percentage across the league. He wants to consistently make kicks regardless of where it's at on the field. It could be a chip shot, it could be a 60-yarder. He knows when he's out there, his singular focus is to make that kick.”

Gillan, the Giants’ left-footed punter, has been an understated member of the specialties unit. Nicknamed “The Scottish Hammer” for his U.K. roots and big, strong kicking leg, Gillan’s 2024 season was off to a solid start until he showed up on the team’s injury report last week with the dreaded hamstring strain.

Gillan is also the team’s holder on place-kick attempts, an underrated but important part of the kicking battery.

The Giants signed veteran Matt Haack last week to fill in for Gillan, the results of which were solid. Haack punted four times, placing two balls inside the 20-yard line. He averaged 46.8 yards per punt with a net average of 40.8.  

“For showing up later in the week, I thought he did a solid job. I know he wants to have a couple of punts back. But I thought he ended up averaging a good ball.” Ghobrial said. 

“The [kick] outside the numbers with high hang and reasonable distance. I know that's his objective every time, and that's a standard that he'll hold himself to, and same here.”

Because injuries strike randomly, Ghobrial, like any other coach, tries to prepare for every conceivable situation.

“Every week, we do practice that. We practice all the flex positions and we make certain that we have a couple of options there,” he said.

More New York Giants Coverage

Join the New York Giants On SI Community

Published
Victoria Jonach
VICTORIA JONACH

Home/Big Blue+