Mason Crosby isn't coming back to save the Green Bay Packers' kicking game anytime soon, but the franchise's all-time leading points scorer is just as puzzled as the rest of us with the kicking situation.
Brandon McManus seemingly played hurt for multiple weeks. Then, after not featuring on the Week 11 injury report through Friday, the Packers surprisingly added him a day before the game, and he didn't play. Backup kicker Lucas Havrisik struggled to handle the swirling winds at MetLife Stadium and some downright awful work from the entire kicking operation, missing three extra-point tries.
Now, McManus is back to practicing in full, only three days after being deemed not healthy enough to play. None of it makes sense, and Crosby doesn't understand it. He gave his take on The Mason Crosby Show for the Wisconsin Sports Radio Network.
"I've heard out in the media space where everyone is kind of trying to tiptoe around, like, wind was there, weather's bad, but what is going on?" Crosby said. "For me, I'm like, so McManus couldn't go in the game but he's OK two or three days later? What is going on up there? In my mind, I'm grasping at straws."
Mason Crosby hits the nail on the head about the Packers' kicking woes
Crosby is 100 percent correct. What is going on?
McManus got hurt. Havrisik stepped in and played two perfect games, including beating Crosby's franchise record with a 61-yard field goal. Green Bay then seemed to rush McManus back from injury, with the veteran missing four kicks in three games after returning.
It then appeared McManus was finally healthy. He didn't even feature on the injury report for Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday ahead of last week's game. But on Saturday, a day in which the team didn't practice, Green Bay added McManus to the report and listed him as doubtful.
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In came Havrisik, and he struggled in Week 11 by missing three extra-point tries. And the drama continues.
By Wednesday, McManus is back to practicing fully. Is he healthy? Is he going to resume his role as the kicker? Then why is Havrisik still on the 53-man roster?
Green Bay's kicking game became a horror show the moment Crosby departed. The Packers tried to replace him with Anders Carlson, but it didn't work. A year later, they brought in Greg Joseph to compete with Carlson, but ultimately settled on unproven rookie Brayden Narveson. When that experiment failed, the Packers turned to McManus's experience.
He solved the issue for the remainder of the 2024 season, converting 95.2 percent of his field goals. Yet here we are again, with the Packers facing the familiar pain of kicking problems.
Crosby is right to question it. If only he were still in his prime and booting field goals at Lambeau Field every week. He truly made Packers fans take the kicking game for granted.