Matt LaFleur and the Green Bay Packers could easily be 4-0 right now if their special teams had been even remotely special. Instead, a pair of costly blocked field goal/extra point—one against the Cleveland Browns in Week 3 and another versus the Dallas Cowboys in Week 4—flipped the script, respectively.

And just like that, a potential undefeated start turned into a 2-1-1 record heading into Week 6’s matchup with the Cincinnati Bengals after the Week 5 bye. From blocked kicks to shaky returns and inconsistent punting, the Packers’ special teams unit has been a weak link in what’s otherwise been a promising season.

And just when they needed stability, things got even messier: LaFleur’s squad is now battling injuries on top of all that. Earlier, the Packers’ head coach announced a concerning injury to the Super-Bowl-winning kicker, Brandon McManus. “That’s a major concern right now, so we’ll see how he’s doing today and tomorrow,” LaFleur said before Thursday’s practice. “We’ll have a plan ready to go.”

While LaFleur had a plan to go, McManus reportedly wants to suit up in Week 6. But on Friday, LaFleur was asked whether the kicker would suit up against the Bengals. And LaFluer admitted why he called his injury a major concern on Thursday. “We’ll see when we get out there,” the HC said.

“I’ve got to check my thesaurus, apparently. But anytime 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.”

The 34-year-old veteran kicker injured his kicking leg on Wednesday, just four days before the Bengals matchup. That said, ESPN’s Rob Demovsky added another layer to McManus’ injury concerns. The analyst noted that McManus was present for Thursday’s practice, but wasn’t wearing his helmet and didn’t actually participate in the practice.

Considering he’s expected to miss the Bengals game, the Packers are now expected to start rookie Mark McNamee, the team’s international player, in his absence. “It’s never the situation you want to be in in regards to like, first time going out there, but I think Mark’s shown some good progress,” LaFleur said about the rookie. The real twist, though? The veteran kicker believes he could play on Sunday.

Matt LaFleur’s kicker is optimistic to start against the Bengals

Brandon McManus went down after injuring his kicking his leg but despite Matt LaFleur’s concern about his injury, the veteran still wants to play against the Bengals on Sunday. His reasoning, however, is pretty simple: He suffered the same kind of injury a few years back and managed to put up a strong outing.

“It’s very similar to my injury that I had in ’22. I had a pretty good game, I had two 50-yarders and a 40-yarder in that game. So, like I said, I plan on playing,” McManus said, per Demovsky. That was back in 2022. And sure, he had a good performance despite the injury.

But fast forward to 2025, and he’s dealing with a quad injury. To make it trickier, the Packers’ special teams struggles are tangible this season. Take the Week 3 loss against the Browns, for instance. With 27 seconds left (score tied at 10-10), McManus lined up for a 43-yard go-ahead field goal. But the Browns’ veteran Shelby Harris got penetration and blocked the kick; Cleveland recovered and took over field position.

The Packers eventually lost the game 13-10 after the Browns’ Andre Szmyt’s 55-yard field goal as time expired. And that was just one of the games that exposed the Packers’ special teams issues. While McManus is hoping to get the nod despite the injury, sure. But it doesn’t look like Matt LaFleur plans to stick with him as the starter, as the Bengals are lining up next.