Tag: Mason Crosby

Mason Crosby kicks game-winning field goal for Packers as OT expires

Mason Crosby delivers the game-winning kick in OT for the Packers

The Green Bay Packers went down to the last second of overtime Sunday against the New England Patriots before escaping Lambeau Field with a victory.

Mason Crosby kicked a 31-yard field goal as time expired in the extra session to give the Packers the 27-24 victory.

It came in a game that saw New England have to use third-string quarterback Bailey Zappe, who was a fourth-round pick in the 2022 NFL draft out of Western Kentucky.

Mac Jones was out due to an ankle injury. Brian Hoyer started and was lost with a head injury.

The Patriots held tough and even led in the fourth quarter 24-17 before Aaron Rodgers hit Romeo Doubs with a 13-yard TD pass.

It was the 500th TD pass of Rodgers’ career.

In overtime both teams had chances.

Finally, Rodgers took control and led a 12-play, 77-yard drive that took 6:47 and culminated with Crosby’s kick that lifted Green Bay to 3-1 and dropped New England to 1-3.

Packers GM Brian Gutekunst expecting Mason Crosby to kick Week 1

The Packers are hopeful Mason Crosby will be good to go for Week 1, but Ahmed Ramiz is back on the practice squad just in case.

Green Bay Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst gave an optimistic update on kicker Mason Crosby’s availability for Week 1 of the 2022 season.

“We’re very hopeful Mason is going to be back,” Gutekunst said Wednesday. “We expect him to kick game one, but we will be prepared if he doesn’t.”

Crosby missed all of training camp after undergoing knee surgery on his kicking leg. The Packers activated Crosby off the PUP list on Tuesday so he could be included on the team’s initial 53-man roster.

During the preseason, Ramiz Ahmed replaced an injured Gabe Brkic as the backup kicker for the final two games. Ahmed finished 3-for-3 on field goal attempts, with a long of 45 yards. He also made all three of his extra-point attempts.

Ahmed will serve as the team’s backup plan if Crosby isn’t ready.

“We still have a little ways to go, so the plan is to bring Ramiz back to the practice squad and have him there in case we don’t get there,” said Gutekunst.

Green Bay officially signed Ahmed to the practice squad, according to Tom Silverstein of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

The Packers’ general manager noted that Crosby has been “progressing really nicely” in his rehabilitation. The soon-to-be 38-year-old kicker echoed the same sentiment when talking to reporters last week.

“I’m hitting all the marks,” Crosby said. “As of right now, this is six weeks out, so that was kind of the goal was to be progressing and kicking more at this point. I hit a set inside today and felt really good. I’m just going to keep building off of that. The goal is obviously to be full-go and ready to go by Week 1.”

Crosby was a seventh-round pick in 2007 and is now the team’s all-time leader in points and field goals made. He ranks No.2 in franchise history for games played and consecutive games played, trailing Brett Favre’s streak of 255. Obviously, Crosby’s health is most important, but breaking Favre’s record will serve as added motivation.

Green Bay will begin their season against the Minnesota Vikings on Sept. 11.

Packers activating veteran kicker Mason Crosby off PUP list

The Packers are activating K Mason Crosby off the PUP list on Tuesday.

The Green Bay Packers will almost certainly go into the 2022 season with veteran Mason Crosby as the team’s kicker. According to Matt Schneidman of The Athletic, Crosby is being activated off the PUP list in time to be included on the team’s initial 53-man roster on Tuesday.

Crosby, who turns 38 next month, missed all of training camp after needing surgery on his right knee.

The Packers had Ramiz Ahmed on the roster as a backup plan at kicker, but he was released on Tuesday, opening the door for Crosby’s return. It’s possible Ahmed could return to Green Bay on the practice as insurance in case Crosby isn’t fully ready to kick in Week 1.

Crosby is the team’s all-time leader in points and field goals made. He’s played in 241 straight games dating back to the 2007 season.

The Packers open the 2022 season against the Minnesota Vikings on Sept. 11.

Packers K Mason Crosby expecting to be ready for Week 1

Packers kicker Mason Crosby remains on the PUP list, but being ready for Week 1 is still in his sights.

Green Bay Packers kicker Mason Crosby still has Week 1 in his sights as he continues recovering from a knee surgery completed right before the start of training camp.

Crosby, who turns 38 next month, has been on the PUP list throughout training camp, but he said he’s right on track in his rehab and is still confident he’ll be ready come the Sept. 11 opener against the Minnesota Vikings.

“As of right now, this is six weeks out so that was kind of the goal was to be progressing and kicking more at this point,” Crosby said, per Wes Hodkiewicz of Packers.com. “I hit a set inside today and felt really good. I’m just going to keep building off that. The goal is obviously to be full-go and ready to go by Week 1.”

Coach Matt LaFleur expressed some concern over a right-footed kicker recovering from a right knee injury and surgery but also said he was comfortable with the current rehab timeline.

The Packers have Ramiz Ahmed on the roster as a secondary option and recently worked out five kickers. Ahmed made both field goals, including a 45-yarder, and both extra points in the Packers’ win over the Saints. But even if Ahmed continues to impress, the Packers would probably be more comfortable going into the season with a healthy Crosby, the franchise’s all-time leader in points scored.

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Former Oklahoma Sooners kicker Gabe Brkic off to great start in Green Bay

With preseason games the horizon, former Sooners kicker Gabe Brkic has hit the ground running with the Green Bay Packers.

I found myself in beautiful Green Bay, Wisconsin, for Packers training camp on Tuesday morning. I had but one mission: to see how former Sooners kicker Gabe Brkic was doing in his new surroundings.

I barely noticed a difference besides the new colors he was wearing. Brkic is off to a very good start in Green Bay, with none of the consistency issues that he had earlier this year in Minnesota. I didn’t see Brkic miss a single kick while I was at Ray Nitschke Field.

He also had a very solid day on Monday, according to The Athletic’s Matt Schneidman.

There’s another interesting nugget in this situation: Packers legend Mason Crosby had surgery on his right knee–his kicking knee–during the offseason and isn’t practicing. Brkic has had all the kicking reps to himself.

Crosby will be 38 in September and is currently on the physically unable to perform list.

Here’s what our friends at Packers Wire had to say on the situation:

The injury is a concerning issue for an aging kicker – especially a right-legged kicker – coming off one of the worst seasons of his professional career. In 2021, Crosby missed nine field goals and finished with a field goal percentage of just 73.5, the second worst of his career.

Crosby is also going into the final year of his deal in 2022. He’ll make a base salary of $2.25 million, with a cap hit of $4.75 million. The Packers could save almost $2.4 million by moving on but would risk entering the 2022 season without an established kicker. – Zach Kruse, Packers Wire

The Packers had the worst special teams unit in the NFL last year and brought in former Raiders head coach Rich Bisaccia to clean it up. Crosby was a big part of that.

Green Bay will no doubt do right by their best kicker in team history, but if Brkic continues to impress during training camp and has a good preseason, Crosby could be out of a job.

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Packers K Mason Crosby still recovering from right knee injury to open training camp

Packers K Mason Crosby, who turns 38 in September, is recovering from a right knee injury that required recent surgical intervention.

Veteran kicker Mason Crosby is dealing with a right knee injury that recently required surgical intervention as the Green Bay Packers open training camp.

Crosby, who turns 38 years old in September, started camp on the physically unable to perform list. According to Rob Demovsky of ESPN, Crosby had his knee scoped earlier this month.

“I have a right knee injury that I’ve been dealing with here through the offseason. Wear and tear over the years, different things. It didn’t feel like it was where it needed to be at the end of OTAs,” Crosby said Wednesday. “Just trying to get healthy. Get right. Just make sure by the regular season, at the very latest, that I’m ready to roll.”

Crosby said he’s hopeful that he can work with the kicking unit before the end of training camp but reiterated that, at this point of his career, he doesn’t need to kick during preseason games.

The Packers have rookie Gabe Brkic on the roster as the second kicker. The Oklahoma product will likely get a chance to handle all kicking duties for the Packers during most of camp and the preseason, providing a terrific opportunity to either push for the job in Green Bay or audition elsewhere this summer.

The injury is a concerning issue for an aging kicker – especially a right-legged kicker – coming off one of the worst seasons of his professional career. In 2021, Crosby missed nine field goals and finished with a field goal percentage of just 73.5, the second worst of his career.

Crosby is also going into the final year of his deal in 2022. He’ll make a base salary of $2.25 million, with a cap hit of $4.75 million. The Packers could save almost $2.4 million by moving on but would risk entering the 2022 season without an established kicker.

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Packers veteran kicker and former Buff Mason Crosby needs bounce-back season in 2022

Mason Crosby needs a bounce-back season

With NFL training camps beginning soon, Packers Wire listed a handful of its players that have the most to prove in 2022. Surprisingly, veteran kicker and former Colorado Buffaloes star Mason Crosby was in the group.

One year after going 16-for-16 on field goals in 2020, Crosby had his lowest field goal percentage (73.5%) since 2012. The expectations in Green Bay have risen with Aaron Rodgers returning and the Packers need just one more solid season from their historically reliable kicker.

Here’s what Packers Wire’s Zach Kruse wrote on Crosby:

The 37-year-old holds just about every kicking record in team history, but Crosby is coming off a highly disappointing 2021 and will now have to fight off competition during training camp. He missed nine field goals and two extra points last season. The Packers think adding veteran punter/holder Pat O’Donnell will help the field goal operation overall. Can Crosby win a competition and bounce back from a poor season, as he’s done so many times in his career? The Packers need a trustworthy kicker to get back to the Super Bowl, and Crosby – when he’s right – is the best option on the roster. His deal voids after this season, so this could be The Last Dance for Crosby in Green Bay in 2022.

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Packers add kicker to roster, sign Dominik Eberle

The Packers signed kicker Dominik Eberle. The question now becomes: Who is he competing with? JJ Molson or Mason Crosby?

The Green Bay Packers added another kicker to the offseason roster on Tuesday. The team signed Dominik Eberle, an undrafted free agent who was once a collegiate teammate of quarterback Jordan Love.

Eberle went undrafted out of Utah State in 2020 but has spent time with the Las Vegas Raiders, Carolina Panthers and Houston Texans at the NFL level. In one regular-season appearance, Eberle made 2-of-3 field goals (long of 51) and five extra points as a member of the Texans last season.

Eberle joins Mason Crosby and JJ Molson on the roster at kicker. The move suggests the Packers could be making a move at the position soon, with the possibility of Crosby – the franchise’s all-time leader in points scored – becoming a cap casualty.

General manager Brian Gutekunst will have to decide: Is Eberle going to be competition for Crosby or Molson?

As Aaron Nagler of Cheesehead TV pointed out, Eberle had a chance to work with new Packers special teams coordinator Rich Bisaccia while with the Raiders.

Eberle is Utah State’s record holder in points and field goals made. He connected on 167 straight extra points attempts (another school record) and finished 64 out of 81 on field goal attempts (79 percent). He made 4-of-7 attempts over 50 yards, with a long of 52. As a senior, he made a school-record 87.5 percent of his field goals (21-of-24). Over four seasons at Utah State, Eberle increased his field goal percentage each season.

The Packers won’t be expected to keep three kickers on the 90-man roster for long.

Crosby is coming off his worst professional season, will turn 38 years old in September and is scheduled to count $4.73 million against the cap in 2022. The Packers had Molson on the practice squad as a protected player for much of the 2021 season, but he has limited experience.

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Will Packers move on from Mason Crosby? ‘Absolutely not,’ says Matt LaFleur

The Packers are sticking with kicker Mason Crosby, who has missed five field goal attempts in the last five games.

Green Bay Packers coach Matt LaFleur made it clear Monday: His team won’t be moving on from veteran kicker Mason Crosby, who missed another field goal on Sunday in Minnesota.

Asked if the Packers would be making a change at kicker, LaFleur didn’t flinch.

“No, I would say absolutely not,” LaFleur said Monday.

Crosby clanked a 32-yard field goal attempt off the upright in the first quarter on Sunday at U.S. Bank Stadium. The Packers ended up losing by three.

Crosby, 37, has now missed an NFL-high eight field goals this season, including a league-high four kicks between 30-39 yards. He’s missed five field goal attempts in just the last five games.

“Certainly have a lot of confidence in Mason,” LaFleur said.

Crosby made a 54-yard field goal earlier in the game Sunday, a fact LaFleur pointed to when discussing his continued confidence in the veteran kicker.

And once again, LaFleur pointed to the execution of the entire operation as the downfall.

“That never falls squarely on one individual. Our operation has got to improve, that’s from the snap to the hold to the kick,” LaFleur said. “We’ll continue to work on that.”

Crosby is a highly respected member of the Packers locker room, and he has a history of bouncing back from poor stretches of kicking. The Packers are banking on Crosby to rebound and start making kicks consistently, especially as the playoffs approach and kicking becomes even more important.

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