The Green Bay Packers are 2-1-1, which has them in the early NFL Playoffs picture through the season’s first five weeks. However, they have not won a game since Week Two after dropping their Week Three contest to the lowly Cleveland Browns and tying the Dallas Cowboys in Week Four.
Last week, Week Five, was their bye week.
As the Packers prepare to take on the Cincinnati Bengals (and quarterback Joe Flacco) in Week Six, their hope is that they have been able to fix the mistakes that plagued them in each of their past two games, most notably poor special teams and offensive line play.
However, an injury to kicker Brandon McManus in practice this week has forced Green Bay to bring in a new kicker and leaves their special teams with some serious questions that likely will not be answered until game time on Sunday.
The Green Bay Packers signed Lucas Havrisik amid Brandon McManus uncertainty
Green Bay Packers kicker Brandon McManus (17) offers encouragement to a child participating in a field goal contest during Family Night on Saturday, August 2, 2025, at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wis.
Tork Mason/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin
It was reported earlier this week that McManus tweaked his groin in practice. At first, many fans thought the injury was a result of his special teams tackle against the Cowboys as he laid a pretty hard hit on the returner, but the Packers made it clear that it was a new injury from his workouts this week.
Not that it matters when the injury happened; Green Bay still needs to have a [preferably] healthy and reliable kicker for their game against Cincinnati on Sunday.
And while McManus has not been ruled out, the Packers took steps to ensure they are covered in the event he cannot play:
#Packers have signed K Lucas Havrisik to the active roster, signed T Brant Banks to the practice squad and released DL Deslin Alexandre from the practice squad, the club announced. K Brandon McManus is still questionable, so that means he still might kick vs. #Bengals.
— Tom Silverstein (@TomSilverstein) October 11, 2025
As one can see from the post above, the Packers signed free agent kicker Lucas Havrisik to their active roster for Sunday’s game against the Bengals. This does not mean McManus will not play, but it does mean that Green Bay has a backup plan in place.
Obviously, they were not impressed with what practice squad kicker Mark McNamee was showing them in practice this week.
Havrisik last kicked in the NFL as a rookie in 2023, making 15 of 20 field goal attempts for the Los Angeles Rams. He was perfect from inside 40 yards, but was just 4-9 on attempts between 40 and 50+ yards.
Havrisik was also shaky on his extra points, making just 19 of 22, good for an 86.4% percent rate.
Clearly, the hope is that McManus will be able to play on Sunday as he is reliable and has a long track record of success in the NFL. If he is not able to play, Green Bay will not be able to rely on its kicking unit much.
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