Oakland Raiders placekicker Sebastian Janikowski has been placed on injured reserve with a herniated disk. Giorgio Tavecchio takes his place on the roster.

There has been a lot of news surrounding the Oakland Raiders’ kicking situation throughout the preseason. Long-time kicker Sebastian Janikowski rarely played in the preseason. He was dealing with a nagging back injury.

Janikowski and the Raiders organization has a contract issue for a few days last week that was ultimately sorted out. Earlier in the week, Oakland signed former California Golden Bears kicker Giorgio Tavecchio to the practice squad.

With Janikowski’s back worsening, Tavecchio took the trip with the Raiders to Nashville before their Week 1 game with the Tennessee Titans. Now it seems that we won’t see Janikowski suit up for the Silver and Black for two months.

According to the NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, “The Raiders have promoted Giorgio Tavecchio to the active roster and placed Sebastian Janikowski (disc) on Injured Reserve. Raiders have been fearful of Janikowski’s herniated disc for some time. He wasn’t right this week. Giorgio Tavecchio takes over now.”

Kicker news: The #Raiders have promoted Giorgio Tavecchio to the active roster and placed Sebastian Janikowski (disc) on Injured Reserve. — Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) September 9, 2017

#Raiders have been fearful of Janikowski’s herniated disc for some time. He wasn’t right this week. Giorgio Tavecchio takes over for now. — Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) September 9, 2017

While Janikowski is the Raiders’ franchise leader in games played and points scored, Sunday will be Tavecchio’s first regular season game of his NFL career. Janikowski had been kicking field goals and extra points for the Silver and Black since he was a first-round pick out of Florida State in 2000.

Tavecchio went undrafted out of Cal back in 2012. He had spent time with the San Francisco 49ers, the Green Bay Packers and the Detroit Lions in preseason or practice squad roles from 2012 to 2014.

Tavecchio would then find his way to the Raiders in 2014, where he has been a preseason fixture in Oakland ever since. After starting four years at Cal over half a decade ago, Tavecchio finally gets to realize his NFL dream, as he and the Raiders will take on the Titans tomorrow.

With Janikowski being 39 years old and out for half the year with a herniated disc, this could be the beginning of the end for his time with the Raiders.

While Raider Nation hates to see Janikowski struggle with a bad back, it will be interesting to see what the 27-year-old Italian American Tavecchio can do with his big opportunity.

Kickoff from Nissan Stadium in Nashville will be at 10:00 a.m. PT, 12:00 p.m. CT on September 10. This will be a big first win for the Raiders. Hopefully Oakland comes out on top and Tavecchio can make a big first kick in the league.