GREEN BAY, Wis. – In a stunning rebuttal that has the NFL world buzzing, Green Bay Packers kicker Brandon McManus dismissed a bombshell injury update from ESPN analyst Troy Aikman as outright fiction. During Monday Night Football’s broadcast, Aikman suggested McManus was only “semi-healthy” for the first time since tweaking his quad a month ago—a report that caught the veteran kicker completely off guard.
“That was news to me when I heard that I had said that,” McManus quipped on Thursday, shaking his head at the mix-up. The 33-year-old, who signed with the Packers last season as a midseason savior for their kicking woes, has been grinding through recovery since straining his right quad during practice on Oct. 8. He sat out two full games but has suited up for the past three, including a gritty performance against the Eagles where his leg held up despite the visible wear.
Special teams coordinator Rich Bisaccia poured cold water on any lingering doubts last week, declaring McManus “getting healthier and healthier by the day” and confirming he’d handle kicking duties against Philadelphia. True to form, McManus wasn’t even listed on the final injury report. This week? Same story—no designation, no drama.
Diving deeper into his rehab journey, McManus explained the incremental progress that’s brought him back to form. “As you work through the progression of being injured, obviously, the pain tolerances and everything get better and better,” he said. “Last week was when I felt almost back to normal—pretty much back to normal. Pretty much no pain, didn’t feel anything in my leg.”
The verdict on his readiness for the playoff push? Unwavering. “Yes,” McManus affirmed without hesitation. For a Packers team eyeing a deep run in the NFC North, that’s music to head coach Matt LaFleur’s ears.
McManus arrived in Green Bay like a knight in shining armor last year, stepping in for the inconsistent Brayden Narveson and promptly authoring one of the most dominant kicking seasons in franchise history. He drained 20 of 21 field goals (95.2% accuracy), good for second-best in the league and a Packers record that silenced skeptics. It was the steady boot the team desperately needed to steady their special teams ship.
This season, however, has been a cruel twist of fate. Among the 32 kickers with at least 10 attempts, McManus ranks dead last at 64.7% (11-of-17). He’s hooked or shanked one in each of his last six games, including a heartbreaker blocked against Cleveland and a 64-yard Hail Mary that sailed wide in Philly. The slump has been as public as it is painful, amplified by the injury that robbed him of full practice reps.
Yet, amid the misses, McManus radiates quiet confidence. “You have to rely on what you’ve done in the past,” he insisted. The frustration? It’s palpable. “I’ve been upset with some of these easier kicks that I’ve missed that are relatively easy for me. So, it’s been disappointing. One, was getting injured at first at practice— wasn’t even during a game. And that ended up being more like Matt was saying where it was a ‘major concern,’ and I ended up missing a few weeks.”
The ripple effects extend far beyond his stat line, though. McManus, a self-professed football junkie before he ever laced up, feels the weight of letting down his teammates most acutely. “I was a fan of football before I ended up playing so, to me, being a fan is a psychological roller coaster,” he reflected. “I see day in and day out players in here busting their tails off with knick-knack injuries and stuff like that. All of us go out there with the intention to perform our best and, obviously, I have not been playing my best.”
Kicking, after all, is a position of extremes—feast or famine, hero or goat. “That’s the nature of the position and that’s why they pay us handsomely, just like other people in the room,” McManus acknowledged with a wry smile. “It’s an unfortunate black-and-white thing with our position. It comes with the territory. That’s why I like playing this position.”
Someone floats the inevitable comparison to golf: both solitary pursuits where one errant swing can derail everything. McManus chuckles and shuts it down quick. “I wouldn’t compare it to golf because you’ve got four shots to get it in,” he interjects. “If you have a bad shot, you can still make up for it with a chip or putt. Not kicking.”
The mental game? McManus swears it’s not unraveling him. “You’re pretty thoughtless when you’re out there, to be honest with you,” he said, recounting recent clunkers like the halftime field goal against the Steelers or a windy extra point versus the Panthers. “The Panthers game… just no excuse. Easy kicks for me. But… I came back and hit the extra point and that was a significant wind game. Obviously, their kicker missed the extra point. So, to me, at times, it’s a thoughtless position when I’m out on the field. I’m not thinking about anything other than what I’ve done in the past and picking my target and swinging.”
Bisaccia backed the optimism Thursday, noting McManus has been “striking the ball pretty good” in practice all week. The signs point to a corner turned: injury behind him, rust shaken off, and that trademark leg primed for redemption.
Now fully healthy—”Definitely healthy now,” McManus emphasized—the eight-year pro is laser-focused on flipping the script. “I was healthy enough to play and it was our decision from the medical, how I was feeling at practice, and look forward to performing the way I know how to.”
For the Packers, clinging to playoff hopes in a brutal stretch, McManus’s boot could be the X-factor. Aikman’s “semi-healthy” slip-up? Just noise in the rearview. The real story is a kicker reloaded, ready to bomb his way back to brilliance—and bury the doubters with it.