Green Bay Packers fans were dealt a scare on Thursday when head coach Matt LaFleur hinted that his team will be without kicker Brandon McManus against the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 6. LaFleur told reporters that McManus' quad injury is "a major concern right now," per ESPN's Rob Demovsky, leaving Packers fans to wonder what a potential absence might look like.
Well, it turns out that McManus might not miss any time at all, according to the Green Bay kicker himself.
"McManus tells us he plans to kick on Sunday," The Athletic's Matt Schneidman reported on Thursday afternoon. "McManus said he didn’t talk to LaFleur about his injury and that LaFleur has his own thesaurus."
Matt LaFleur, Brandon McManus Give Conflicting Injury Updates on Packers Kicker
As much as Packers fans would love to see McManus on the field this weekend, there's no doubt that his update has added a layer of confusion to the situation. The fact that he also openly admitted that he didn't talk to LaFleur about his injury also makes one wonder where the Green Bay HC got his dire diagnosis in the first place.
On one hand, it's possible that McManus knows his body better than anyone else and is confident that he can power through any ailment to face the Bengals at home. On the other hand, players have a history of being stubborn and their worst enemy, so it isn't unfathomable to imagine that McManus might not want to admit the severity of his issue if he doesn't want to lose his job.
Whether McManus is trending towards playing or not, it doesn't change the fact that the Packers' kicker and head coach need to be on the same page. Green Bay's special teams situation has been among the worst in the NFL (51.4 grade, 31st on Pro Football Focus), and any unnecessary drama or distractions will prevent the unit from reaching its potential.
Hopefully, McManus is closer to being right in this situation. Although he hasn't been perfect this year, the Packers aren't exactly ripe with external or internal replacement options, and any "major' injury to McManus would likely send the unit into a tailspin, potentially costing special teams coordinator Rich Bisaccia his job.
It'll be interesting to see if McManus and LaFleur have a follow-up conversation to get on the same page. Regardless of why they weren't on Thursday, the Packers' outlook will improve if the head coach and the veteran kicker's vision is aligned.