The Green Bay Packers have a big-time battle on Monday Night Football against the Philadelphia Eagles. The Packers dropped their last game to the Carolina Panthers and want to bounce back.
As they gear up for this contest, there still seems to be no definite answer on who will start at kicker, and head coach Matt LaFleur added some fuel to the fire. When speaking to the media on Thursday, he revealed that both Brandon McManus and Lucas Havrisik will kick during practice.
"Every time it's a competitive situation. We're gonna have both guys kick today & see where Brandon is at... We'll go with who gives us the best opportunity to compete and win," LaFleur said via Weston Hodkiewicz of Packers.com.
This is certainly a change in tone from LaFleur, illustrating that McManus is not penciled in to be the starter on Monday Night Football.
Packers Won’t Say Brandon McManus Will Start in Week 9
It's been a weird few weeks in Green Bay around the kicker position. McManus has been dealing with a quad injury and doesn't appear to be 100%. Meanwhile, this season, he has taken a step back from his 2024 performance. In six games, McManus has gone 11-of-16 on field goal attempts, including a putrid 1-of-5 from 40-49 yards away.
Just last week against the Panthers, McManus went 2-of-3 on field goal attempts, but had a 43-yard miss. That was a huge miscue as the Packers ended up losing by three points.
Meanwhile, the Packers have decided to keep both McManus and Havrisik on the 53-man roster. It isn't typical that teams keep two kickers on the active roster, but this shows how uncertain Green Bay feels about moving forward with McManus as their clear starter going forward.
When McManus was sidelined, Havrisik started in two games for the Packers was really impressive. He was a perfect 4-of-4 on field goal attempts and 6-of-6 on extra point attempts. Instead of letting him go and potentially be snagged by another team, the Packers signed him to the 53-man roster.
Thursday's practice session will be huge in terms of who they plan to trot out as their starter in Week 10. It seemed like the Packers weren't seriously considering benching McManus this season, but the fact that he's missed at least one field goal in two straight games is concerning.
Going into this season, Green Bay felt confident in its kicker position, but that has shifted. And based on how McManus has played in 2025, there's a great chance that Havrisik is the starter. This battle is interesting and will have fans' attention over the coming days.