Packer Central

Packers-Bengals Inactives: Key Decisions Made on Brandon McManus, Ja’Marr Chase

With the Packers set to face the Bengals, here’s the big news with kicker Brandon McManus and their three injured starting offensive linemen.
Bill Huber|
Green Bay Packers kicker Brandon McManus (17) celebrates after kicking a field goal against the Dallas Cowboys.
Green Bay Packers kicker Brandon McManus (17) celebrates after kicking a field goal against the Dallas Cowboys. | Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

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GREEN BAY, Wis. – Brandon McManus is inactive, meaning newly signed Lucas Havrisik will be the Green Bay Packers’ kicker for Sunday’s game against the Cincinnati Bengals.

The No. 1 offensive line is active for the Packers.

For the Bengals, All-Pro receiver Ja’Marr Chase, who was questionable due to illness, is active.

Starting about two-and-a-half hours before kickoff at a blustery Lambeau Field, and about an hour before inactives had to be set, McManus went through a lengthy pregame kicking routine. Starting from 30-yard kicks to 54-yard field goals to the north and south sides of the field, McManus put his injured right quad through a lengthy test.

After he finished, he had a lengthy talk with special teams coordinator Rich Bisaccia and general manager Brian Gutekunst, among others. After a few minutes, he walked back to the middle of the field, set up his kicking sticks and made a 50-yard field goal. After another brief chat, everybody went inside Lambeau Field.

There were no handshakes or fist bumps.

Just before inactives were due, the kicker who was signed on Saturday, Havrisik, was dressed and started stretching.

The Packers signed Havrisik on Saturday – he and Greg Joseph worked out for the team on Friday. Havrisik was the Rams’ kicker for about half the 2023 season. He didn’t kick in a game in 2024 and had an excellent 2025 season in the UFL.

The Packers on Friday ruled out three players and, including McManus, listed six players as questionable.

INACTIVE – DT Devonte Wyatt (knee): Wyatt injured a knee against Cleveland in Week 3 and injured it again at Dallas in Week 4. He didn’t practice all week and was ruled out on Friday.

INACTIVE – OT Anthony Belton (ankle): Belton injured an ankle during the practice week before the Dallas game. He didn’t practice this week and was ruled out on Friday.

OUT – WR Christian Watson (knee): Watson’s return-to-play window opened on Monday but he was ruled out on Friday.

ACTIVE – LT Rasheed Walker (quad): Walker was limited during the padded practice on Wednesday, didn’t practice on Thursday and was limited on Friday. He has a huge matchup on his hands against Bengals All-Pro Trey Hendrickson.

“Like most of our guys, there’s been a lot of great moments, and then there’s some plays that you’d inevitably like to have back,” coach Matt LaFleur said. “But all in all, I think he’s become a more consistent player over the course of these four years. He’s a guy that we have a ton of confidence in.”

ACTIVE – LG Aaron Banks (groin): Banks was injured in Week 1, didn’t play in Week 2, played one half in Week 3 and didn’t play in Week 4. He was limited at practice all week, saying the bye did a lot of good.

“If you go from a week ago to today, there’s great improvement. It’s gotten better every day and it’s hopeful,” he said.

ACTIVE – RT Zach Tom (oblique): Tom was injured in Week 1, didn’t play in Week 2, played one snap in Week 3 and didn’t play in Week 4. He was limited at practice all week but was confident he was ready this time.

“Having the confidence that your body is going to be able to hold up is obviously huge for us as an O-lineman, because you’re in there every play,” Tom said. “So, I feel pretty good about Sunday.”

ACTIVE – CB Nate Hobbs (concussion): Hobbs missed the end of the Dallas game with a concussion and was in the protocol on Friday. He practiced as limited all week.

OUT – C/G Jacob Monk (hamstring): Monk’s return-to-play window opened on Monday. He was questionable on Friday’s injury report but not activated.

With 52 players on their roster, the Packers had to list only four inactives. Along with McManus, Wyatt and Belton, cornerback Kamal Hadden is a healthy scratch.

McManus was injured at Wednesday’s practice.

“I was kicking, warming up,” McManus explained on Thursday. “I had kickoffs earlier in the day and then I was warming up for field goals (and) I kind of felt a tug against my quad. 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. It felt very similar to when I had a quad-type deal in 2022. We were going into play the Ravens when I was with the Broncos, and it happened on Wednesday and then I just pretty much took the week off and then played on Sunday.”

McManus made 3-of-4 field goals in that game, with two makes from 50-plus yards and the miss from 63.

With that experience, even though coach Matt LaFleur called it a “major concern,” McManus said he intended to play.

“That’s not how I think,” he said of taking the week off to let the injury heal. “I plan on playing and I’ll look forward to it.”

The Packers worked out the veteran kickers, anyway, and signed Havrisik for insurance.

“I think we’re going to lean on him to his point. He’s been through this before,” Bisaccia said on Thursday. “We’ll see how he feels tomorrow as to what he’s going to do in tomorrow’s practice, whether he gets some kicks in or not, and just kind of lean on how he feels, how the rehab part goes through the next few days.

“Planning on him playing on Sunday as of right now, because he’s been through this before, and he feels like he can go. So, he’s a guy that’s got a lot of experience and he’s been through this once before. So, we’ll lean in that direction until something changes.”

For the Bengals, Chase will play but two key rookies, defensive end Shemar Stewart and guard Dylan Fairchild, are out.

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Bill Huber
BILL HUBER

Bill Huber, who has covered the Green Bay Packers since 2008, is the publisher of Packers On SI, a Sports Illustrated channel. E-mail: packwriter2002@yahoo.com History: Huber took over Packer Central in August 2019. Twitter: https://twitter.com/BillHuberNFL Background: Huber graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, where he played on the football team, in 1995. He worked in newspapers in Reedsburg, Wisconsin Dells and Shawano before working at The Green Bay News-Chronicle and Green Bay Press-Gazette from 1998 through 2008. With The News-Chronicle, he won several awards for his commentaries and page design. In 2008, he took over as editor of Packer Report Magazine, which was founded by Hall of Fame linebacker Ray Nitschke, and PackerReport.com. In 2019, he took over the new Sports Illustrated site Packer Central, which he has grown into one of the largest sites in the Sports Illustrated Media Group.