The Green Bay Packers return to action this Sunday, and they were hoping that a bye week would solve some of their injury concerns. While several players have returned to practice this week, the status of others, such as offensive tackle Zach Tom, remains in question for Sunday’s game against the Cincinnati Bengals. In addition to those question marks concerning players who have returned to the practice field following the bye, others, such as defensive tackle Devonte Wyatt, have missed practice altogether.
Needless to say, the Packers did not want to deal with more injury issues coming out of their bye week. Unfortunately, it has, and it is hitting Green Bay in the one area where it didn’t expect this to happen, its kicker.
According to ESPN’s Rob Demovsky, Brandon McManus was a limited participant in Wednesday’s practice due to a right quadricep injury. While it doesn’t appear that McManus’s availability for Sunday’s game is in jeopardy, it’s something to monitor in the coming days.
Injury to Brandon McManus Adds Heat to Packers Special Teams Unit
The Packers won 11 games a year ago, but that number could have been greater had they shored up their kicking situation sooner. Green Bay went with Brayden Narveson to begin the year, but after he hit just 12-of-17 (70%) field goals in the first six games, he was replaced by McManus.
The decision paid off for Green Bay as McManus has been one of the NFL’s best kickers. In 15 games, the veteran has made 27-of-30 field goals (90%) and 41-of-42 extra points. Those numbers could be even better if McManus didn’t have a potential go-ahead field goal blocked in a loss to the Cleveland Browns in Week 3 and an extra point blocked by the Cowboys in Week 4.
The injury to McManus is also another troubling development for Green Bay’s special teams unit. While the veteran has been a bright spot, special teams coordinator Rich Bisaccia is on the hot seat and may be auditioning for his job as soon as Sunday’s game against the Bengals.
The good news is that it’s early in the week, and McManus could return to practice as soon as Thursday. Despite time being on their side for now, it is a concern as to how long the injury will linger and how it impacts his performance. Regardless, it’s a storyline the Packers did not want to deal with coming out of the bye, as they’ll have to hope it was just an off day for their kicker.
