Zvada: 'I was ready' to try 62-yard FG for the tie

With about two and a half minutes left in the game and trailing by three points, the Giants had fourth-and-13 at the Vikings’ 44. But rather than send rookie kicker Dominic Zvada out to attempt a tying 62-yard field goal, the same length of the one he drilled to end practice on Wednesday, John Harbaugh elected to punt. The Giants never got the ball back.

Zvada said he was ready, though.

“I was going to let Coach do his thing,” he told Newsday. “Coach had been treating it like a normal game. Special teams was going to be the same no matter what. I was ready and Coach did what he had to do.”

That decision meant Zvada did not officially make his NFL debut with many of the other rookies. He is in a training camp battle with Ben Sauls for the kicking job and they split this game in halves. Sauls handled the kickoffs, the extra point, and the 46-yard field goal at the first half buzzer as part of his responsibilities. But because the Giants received to start the second half and never scored, Zvada remained planted on the sideline.

“It was exhilarating, super exciting,” he said of simply being there. “Just being able to be on the field and experience the stadium for the first time was truly amazing.”

He did get to warm up, at least, and get his first chances at MetLife Stadium. He acknowledged that he is aware of the “legendary” Meadowlands winds, but obviously Saturday was not a day to face those down.

So it’s on to the next preseason game and another potential for actual game action.

“In Miami, hopefully, it’ll be a great time, a great atmosphere, a great stadium, and hopefully some good weather too,” he said.

By Tom Rock

tom.rock@newsday.com@TomRock_Newsday

Tom Rock began covering sports for Newsday in 1996 and became its NFL columnist in 2022. He previously was Newsday's Giants beat writer beginning in 2008.