With kicker Brandon McManus battling a quad injury, the Packers hosted Lucas Havrisik and Greg Joseph for workouts on Thursday, per ESPN’s Rob Demovsky.
McManus was injured in practice on Wednesday but said on Thursday that he still plans to play on Sunday against the Bengals, according to Demovsky. He referenced a similar injury in 2022 that he played through, albeit with a noticeable but not extreme impact on his performance. By the end of that season, he appeared to be back to full strength.
The Packers do have another kicker on their roster in Mark McNamee, an Ireland native who is part of the NFL’s International Player Pathway Program. He made one of his two field goals and two of his three extra points in the preseason, per Pro Football Focus (subscription required). It is not surprising that the Packers wanted to explore other options before trotting out such an inexperienced player in the regular season.
Havrisik’s only NFL experience came in 2023 with the Rams. He went 11-for-11 from inside 40 yards, but converted only four of his nine attempts from further out. Havrisik’s most recent action came with the UFL’s Arlington Renegades in 2025; he made 22 of his 25 attempts with a long of 54 yards.
Joseph is a much more experienced player with 75 appearances across his six-season career. He has a career conversion rate of 82.3% and made four of his nine field goals from 40 or more yards in 2024.
The Packers seem unsure of McManus’ status for Week 6. Head coach Matt LaFleur said (via Demovsky) before Thursday’s practice the kicker’s quad injury was a “major concern right now” and indicated that the veteran kicker was day-to-day, per Demovsky. However, special teams coordinator Rich Bisaccia said (also via Demovsky) that he was “planning on McManus playing Sunday as of right now.”
A signing on Friday would be an indicator that McManus is at serious risk of missing the game, but he seems determined to play.
The Packers are 2 touchdown favorites against the Bengals so they could probably let Bearmeat handle the kicking duties and still win that game š
I am sure Bearmeat will reply with some stat that he pulled out of thin air that details the odds of winning when a team brings in a replacement kicker due to injury and that team is playing against an opponent whose mascot is a predatory feline. He will also go on to detail which of the potential replacements will be selected based on his vast knowledge and experience of all things NFL and Green Bay Packers related. Lastly he call anyone who disagrees with him a Bear fan or hater and comment on how they are clearly showing the world their status as a hater.
I like this idea. Iād only have to kick in like 4 games to change my entire financial future lol.
But more seriously. Iād rather let the Irish guy handle kickoffs, go for it in plus territory, and go for two after every TD. Just get Brandon healthy for the Eagles. (Who are losing to the Giantsā¦ how?) š
The next four weeks āshouldā all be dubs if this team is actually good and not full of chokers like they have been the past two weeks.
Absolutely maddening.