Packers sign kicker Lucas Havrisik to their active roster in case McManus is unable to play

GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) — The Green Bay Packers have signed kicker Lucas Havrisik to their active roster to give themselves a contingency plan in case Brandon McManus’ quadriceps injury prevents him from playing Sunday against the Cincinnati Bengals.

Green Bay (2-1-1) released an injury report Friday that listed McManus as questionable. Packers coach Matt LaFleur called the situation a “major concern” on Thursday, though McManus took issue with that remark and said he planned on playing against Cincinnati (2-3).

“He didn’t speak to me about that, so he has his own thesaurus, encyclopedia to describe injuries,” McManus said Thursday.

LaFleur was asked about the injury again Friday.

“I’ve got to check my thesaurus, apparently,” LaFleur quipped. “But any time a kicker — I don’t care, that’s what I was trying to tell him — yeah, you’ve dealt with this. Well, we haven’t, and I haven’t in my experience. If you’re a kicker and your leg is bothering you, that’s a problem. It’s no different than a quarterback that has something with their throwing arm or throwing shoulder. That is a concern. Whether or not you can work yourself through it, time will tell.”

McManus hurt his quad in practice on Wednesday and was limited in practice the rest of the week.

“I had kickoffs earlier in the day and then I was warming up for field goals, I kind of felt a tug against my quad,” McManus said. “I gave it a couple minutes, tried again and I just shut it down for the day. I didn’t want to make it worse."

The 26-year-old Havrisik appeared in nine games with the Los Angeles Rams in 2023 and went 15 of 20 on field-goal attempts and 19 of 22 on extra points. He has been part of the practice squads for the Indianapolis Colts, Cleveland Browns and Buffalo Bills.

He played 10 games for the United Football League's Dallas Renegades earlier this year and went 22 of 25 on field-goal attempts.

In other moves Sunday, the Packers signed offensive tackle Brant Banks to the practice squad and released defensive lineman Deslin Alexandre from the practice squad.

Banks appeared in two games with the Packers earlier this season. The Tennessee Titans claimed him off waivers on Oct. 1 but released him eight days later.

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