The Green Bay Packers announced on Saturday that they have signed kicker Lucas Havrisik to the 53-man roster. Green Bay’s preferred starting kicker, Brandon McManus, was injured during Wednesday’s practice.
He’s since stated that he’s going to play on Sunday against the Cincinnati Bengals, but McManus was limited in practice throughout the week and was never a full participant.
On Thursday, Havrisik and former Packers kicker Greg Joseph were brought in to work out with the team. The timing of this move is interesting, as Green Bay could have had Havrisik in for Friday’s practice, but they chose to wait until today.
At the NFL level, Havrisik has gone 11 of 11 on field goals of under 40 yards, but he’s just 4 of 9 on field goals of 40-plus. He also missed 3 of 22 extra point attempts. In the UFL this spring, though, he was 22 of 25 on all field goals, with a long of 54, leading the league in field goals made.
Beyond the addition of Havrisik, the Packers also added offensive lineman Brant Banks, who was previously waiver claimed by the Tennessee Titans, to their practice squad. Banks was promoted from Green Bay’s practice squad to the 53-man roster in Week 4. He was responsible for the blocked PAT against the Dallas Cowboys.
To make room for the addition of Banks, the Packers released defensive end Deslin Alexandre from the practice squad.
One piece of non-news that is news is that Green Bay hasn’t announced a practice squad elevation this week. If the Packers were going to be out two offensive linemen versus the Bengals, they would need to call a player up to get to eight on gameday. Tackle Anthony Belton has already been ruled out, while left tackle Rasheed Walker, left guard Aaron Banks and right tackle Zach Tom were listed as questionable on the final injury report of the week.
So they might be banged up, but if you’re reading the tea leaves here, it’s a safe bet to assume that Walker, Banks and Tom are going to suit up against Cincinnati.
