The Green Bay Packers were just on a bye in Week 5 and are slated to play against the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday at 3:25 p.m. CT. It appears that defensive tackle Devonte Wyatt won't be active, and there are some questions around kicker Brandon McManus' injury.
Bill Huber of Sports Illustrated pointed out that the Packers worked out two kickers: Greg Joseph and Lucas Havrisik, per the transaction wire. Joseph is a former Packer, as he was battling Anders Carlson and Alex Hale during the summer of 2024.
With questions on McManus' health heading into Week 6, the Packers decided to work out two different kickers.
Packers Tried Out Two Kickers Including Former Packer Greg Joseph
When speaking to the media on Thursday, McManus said he plans on playing Sunday, but that needs to be taken with a grain of salt, as he stated he didn't even talk to head coach Matt LaFleur about his injury.
LaFleur spoke about McNanus' injury ahead of Thursday's practice and said, " That’s a major concern right now. We’ll have a plan ready to go.”
There seems to be some conflict regarding the kicker, and that's why two guys were brought in. Despite being with the Packers all summer ahead of the 2024 season, the Packers released him and claimed Brayden Narveson off waivers instead. That obviously didn't work either, as they landed with McManus down the line.
Regardless of what McManus is saying, he's dealing with a quad injury that he suffered in Wednesday's practice. Those sorts of injuries could linger on, and even if he did play against the Bengals, he would be less than 100%. That could be something that negatively affects the Packers, and they are looking at other options.
Joseph has six years of NFL career experience with the Browns, Titans, Vikings, Giants, Commanders, and Jets. At those spots, he has gone 116-of-141 field goal attempts (82%) and 157-of-173 (90%) on extra point attempts.
As for Havrisik, he only has NFL experience with the Los Angeles Rams during the 2023 season. During that campaign, he went 15-of-20 (75%) on field goals and 19-of-22 (86%) on extra points.
No matter if the Packers sign either guy or not, it's clear that there is some worry inside the Packers building about McManus' injury. Kicker has been a problem area for Green Bay for the last couple of years, and McManus was able to stabilize it, but this quad could throw in wrench in the Packers' plans.