EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- With less than two weeks to go before the regular-season opener, the New York Giants are still looking for a kicker.
Neither veteran Lawrence Tynes nor free agent Josh Huston has won the job in training camp, and there is the possibility that Tom Coughlin may have to look at the waiver wire to find a kicker for the Sept. 9 game in Dallas.
The kickers are 3-for-6 on field goal attempts in preseason, and they haven't been much better in kicks during training camp.
"You just have to make kicks," said Tynes, who missed from 40 and 43 yards in the 20-12 loss to the Jets on Saturday. "One for three is not good enough. I don't care if they are all from 50 yards, you have to make two of three."
Huston had a chance to take a big step toward winning the job on Saturday. The Ohio State product had converted from 30 and 50 yards the previous week against Baltimore, and when he went on the field late in the fourth quarter for a 42-yard attempt, all he needed was another between the uprights. The kick went wide right.
"Every kick is an opportunity and, if you look at it that way, I let an opportunity go that I would like to have back," Huston said.
Huston has kicked a little better than Tynes in training camp. His kickoffs are a little longer and he had made 14-of-15 field goal attempts in games and practices before missing one Saturday night.
"I am hitting the ball well," Huston said. "I am hitting the ball solid and feeling confident in what the operation is."
Huston also may have something working in his favor that has nothing to do with kicking.
The Giants acquired Tynes from Kansas City earlier this year for a conditional seventh-round draft pick. If Tynes does not make the team, the pick goes back to New York.
Veteran punter and holder Jeff Feagles thinks both players are talented.
"Lawrence being in the league has a little upper hand on the experience factor," Feagles said. "They both can definitely kick."
The difference is how they handle the pressure of game situations.
Tynes hit 68-of-87 field goal attempts in his three season with the Chiefs, a 78.2 percent conversion rate. Huston made 22 of 28 in 2005, his final year at Ohio State.
Earlier in his career with the Buckeyes, he split time with Jets kicker Mike Nugent.
It was a weird experience, Huston said, noting that coach Jim Tressel had both kickers warm up during games and then make a split-second decision on who would kick.
"This is nothing compared to that," Huston said of his current situation. "It helps I have had experience in this sort of thing. It's not known and it doesn't bother me. I can affect it by kicking well or kicking poorly. So I am going to kick as well as I can to make it easier for them to make a decision."
One thing that has hurt the kickers during training camp was having snapper Ryan Kuehl go down with a serious calf injury. Rookie defensive tackle Jay Alford has handled the snaps in his absence, but he has not worked with the kickers much other than on game day.
Both kickers said it was up to them to adjust and to be ready for Thursday night's preseason finale in New England.
"We're just going to work hard this week and we'll be on target on Thursday," Tynes said. "I'm planning on having a good night."
If the Giants decide that neither Tynes nor Huston is good enough, there are several veteran kickers available: Mike Vanderjagt, Aaron Elling, Paul Edinger and John Carney.
Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press
