Green Bay Packers kicker Brandon McManus is inactive today due to a right quadriceps injury.
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The Green Bay Packers’ kicking game was a mess in 2023 and the first six games of the 2024 campaign before Brandon McManus came to the rescue.
The Packers will have to survive today without their standout kicker.
McManus is inactive for Green Bay’s home game against Cincinnati with a right quadriceps injury. McManus suffered the injury in practice on Oct. 8.
Green Bay’s other inactives are defensive tackle Devonte Wyatt, rookie offensive lineman Anthony Belton and cornerback Kamal Hadden.
The Packers signed Lucas Havrisik to the active roster on Saturday and he’ll handle the kicking duties against the Bengals.
The 26-year-old Havrisik was undrafted coming out of Arizona in 2022. Havrisik spent time on the Indianapolis Colts’ practice squad in 2022, and on the practice squads of both Cleveland and Indianapolis in 2023.
Havrisik then was signed by the Los Angeles Rams midway through the 2023 season to replace struggling veteran Brett Maher. Havrisik made 15 of 20 field goal attempts with the Rams and 19 of 22 extra points, then was waived after the season.
Havrisik was on Buffalo’s practice squad last season, then made 22 of 25 field goals this spring with the Dallas Renegades of the United Football League.
Havrisik has enormous shoes to fill stepping in for McManus.
McManus signed with Green Bay on Oct. 16, 2024, then made 20-of-21 field goals during the regular season (95.2%), the best percentage of his 11-year career and the second-best in team history.
McManus also made all 30 of his extra points, meaning he was a sensational 98.0% on all kicks (50-of-51) during the regular season. McManus did miss a field goal in the Packers’ wild card loss to Philadelphia.
This season, McManus is 7-of-9 on field goals (77.8%) and 11 of 12 on extra points (91.7%).
Not only did McManus have a career-year with Green Bay in 2024, he cleaned up the Packers’ two-year problem at the kicking position.
After Green Bay moved on from Mason Crosby following the 2022 season, Anders Carlson missed more kicks (11) than anyone in football in 2023. Then Brayden Narveson was a dismal 12-of-17 on field goals (70.6%) the first six weeks of 2024 before he was waived.
McManus brought stability back to what had been the weakest spot on the roster and was a big reason Green Bay earned a trip to the postseason. McManus made game-winning field goals against both Houston and Jacksonville in his first two games as a Packer and remained virtually automatic the rest of the year.
Now, the Packers will have to survive without him today.